It's not a Game
by archnemesisnae
Summary: White had to wonder...what was the purpose of her pokemon journey? To help complete the pokedex? To become the strongest trainer? No. All that she wanted out of her journey was to stop him...
1. Prologue: The Crowned Marionette

~The Story of the Sheep, the Crowned Marionette, and the Manipulator~

An announcement is made and all men and women angle their waists into a bow. They are cloaked in grey wool. Like sheep, they follow what the other does. Hundreds of them bend their backs and tip their heads forward until they are ordered to do otherwise.

As raven black dress shoes hit the grandiose red carpet leading to the altar, they are again given a command. The order herds the creatures to simultaneously bend down on one knee. They are simple animals. These animals in particular have old and rotten minds. None of them could achieve what the puppet has. Their actions can be controlled, but their thoughts can only be swayed, not molded in the fashion that the master wants. The puppet prince has a pure and innocent mind. It was one that was taken in carefully when he was just a small piece of wood, and molded and sharpened in the way the puppetmaster wanted. He is his greatest masterpiece.

The sheep are not to see their prince until he is crowned the king, so they are forced to dip their heads and wait on bated breath.

Their prince steps forward with purpose but one must wonder…was it he who decided his steps? The strings between the Manipulator and the Marionette are visible. The connection between the two is undeniable, yet the Manipulator does not claim them. He insists that the Marionette moves on its own volition. Of course the Marionette agrees. It is what his master told him to say.

How proud the Manipulator must be to have this affirmed in front of the altar.

The Marionette prince kneels at the altar where the Manipulator stands. A few pigs stand behind him, robed in fake velvet capes like the Marionette and the Manipulator. The Manipulator saw a side of himself in the pigs, so he allowed them to cloak themselves in the same garb. Disgusting, yet useful, the Manipulator can see what he can take advantage of.

A shining crown is placed on the Marionette's head, and he turns to face his army of sheep. The pigs proclaim him to be the next king, and the sheep bleat and stamp their hooves in recognition.

The Crowned Marionette does not smile because he feels no joy. He was never ordered to be happy, so he is hollow. He looks up to his creator. Perhaps he will allow him happiness now? Perhaps he will acknowledge him now?

But no. The Manipulator does not smile. He will not smile. A restless dream torments him night after night and threatens everything that he has created. A Temptress seduces the Marionette in his dream. It makes him question the way he was made, and the written poetry he was told to speak. The Temptress cannot be allowed to get into the Marionette's mind. So the Manipulator looks stiffly down at his puppet and says,

"You must not fail."

The order has been given, and the Manipulator tightens the strings on the crowned Marionette.


	2. Chapter one: Introducing

***Hello! I hope that you enjoyed the eerie prologue! This story will be generally upbeat until the middle, when we hit Nimbasa. Then it gets a little serious. So! Sit back, and enjoy this crazy retelling of Pokemon white! If you like it, shoot me a comment to let me know!

One time disclaimer: pokemon and all of its characters is owned by Gamefreak and not archnemesisnae***

"White gets to pick first. It was delivered to her house, after all," Cheren said simply, leaning on the computer desk in White's small girlish room.

"Good idea!" Bianca said in between deep huffs of breath. She was still out of breath after being late and running to White's house.

White fluffed her bushy ponytail a little, and took one of the fallen curls by her collarbone into her fingers. She spun it around her fingers nervously.

"Are you two sure?" she had no idea which one she wanted, and yet Cheren and Bianca had both hinted to her on multiple occasions that they were really wanting certain pokemon from this group.

"Of course!" Bianca lightly pushed White towards the opened green package on her bookshelf, "Go for it!"

White inhaled deeply and placed her hand over one of the pokeballs. Heat was radiating from the container as if the creature inside was fired up for battle. White closed her eyes as her fingers hovered above the ball. In a way, it spoke to her.

_If you choose me, I promise that I'll fight for you with all of my firepower! We'll become the strongest team ever!_

White's eyes opened and she moved on to the next ball. The pokemon she just looked over seemed to have a firey will. She couldn't explain it, but White felt that his idea of an adventure was not aligned with hers.

Her hand floated over another pokeball, and she couldn't help but smile. Happiness seemed to flow forth from it, and all of her nervousness was washed away as she could almost feel the palm of her hand tickle. She bit her lip to stifle a giggle.

_If you choose me, I promise that we will always be laughing! We can blow bubbles, hang out on the beach, splash in puddles, anything as long as it's fun!_

While the idea of fun was very tempting to White, she shifted her hand to the next ball. She was very indecisive about why she even wanted to go on this journey. Cheren wanted to become the best and strongest trainer in the entire Unova region by challenging each one of the gyms and the elite four. Bianca wanted to go and become free from her overprotective family. She wanted the opportunity to live and have fun on her own. White just wasn't sure why she wanted to go. She didn't really have any desire to become the best trainer, and she was a little nervous about leaving her mother at home alone. The experience itself would be enough to satisfy her, but she still could not answer her own question.

What do I want out of this adventure? White thought as her hand extended to the last pokemon, and it echoed in her thoughts very comforting words.

_If you choose me, I promise to give you my undying loyalty. If you take care of me, I will in turn take care of you. Our partnership will grow and flourish if you're willing to take the time to nurture it._

She lifted the small red and white pokeball. It was heavier than she anticipated, and she looked at it with wonder. She wanted to meet her new friend that spoke to her, and so, with just her willing it, the pokeball popped open. A flash of light flew from the ball, and began to materialize on the floor. In an instant, a small green pokemon was standing in the center of her bedroom with its leafy arms folded. Its large mahogany eyes met hers and it smirked.

"Snivy," it said, quickly introducing itself.

Cheren's jaw loosened and Bianca breathed a sigh of relief.

"What made you pick Snivy?" Cheren said quietly, trying to hide a smirk of his own. He seemed pretty happy that it wasn't another pokemon.

"I felt like he could be a good partner," White said. She got down on her knees on the old pink rug that covered her wood floor in her room. She extended her hand to the small lizard-like pokemon and it put its tiny hand into hers.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm White," she said as sweetly as she could. Snivy gave her a small nod. He seemed to have an air of arrogance, but she could also tell that he was already very caring towards her.

"I'll take this one!" Bianca said while absentmindedly snatching a pokeball and nearly knocking the big green package off the bookshelf.

"Wait a second!" Cheren exclaimed, but not before Bianca pressed the center button of the sphere. Out popped a tiny blue and white pokemon with a shell on its belly.

"Oshawatt!" It exclaimed with vigor as Bianca squealed with equal excitement. Cheren sighed from complete relief and quickly grabbed the final pokeball from the package. Snivy inched its way towards White's legs in an effort to get away from Bianca and Oshawatt's obnoxious banter. With another flash of light, a little black and orange pokemon emerged from Cheren's pokeball. It let out a snort of smoke and looked at his new trainer with determination and a big grin.

"Tepig." It introduced itself without expending much energy. Cheren kneeled down and ruffled Tepig's big, velvety black ears. He then straightened his glasses on the bridge of his nose and shot a glare at Bianca, who was now spinning around in circles with Oshawatt in her arms.

"I wanted Tepig anyway," Cheren said stiffly. Bianca didn't even notice but White let out a giggle from Cheren's snide remark. She looked down at Snivy who seemed to be eyeing the other pokemon with contempt. Clearly he wasn't the type to play nice with others and the thought made White bite her lip. This would not be an easy trip if Snivy wasn't willing to be a team player.

"Hey Snivy," White called her tiny green pokemon's attention to her. He looked a little relieved when she began to try speaking to him. He seemed to understand the human language well enough, so she continued.

"How would you like to go on an adventure with me? We'll meet lots of friends and challenge all of the gyms. I think we might be able to get pretty far. What do you think?" She asked him while nervously twirling some of her hair between her fingers.

Snivy studied White's face for a moment. Her eyes were large with anticipation. Snivy shrugged and gave one firm nod of his head. White let out a sigh of relief and stretched out her arms. Snivy walked up to her cautiously and she picked him up. He went slightly stiff and tried to look indifferent about his predicament. The corner of his mouth, however, couldn't help but twitch into a little smile. He was happy that White seemed to be a caring trainer.

"We are going to leave immediately after thanking Professor Juniper," White said while turning to face her friends with her little green friend in her arms.

"Wait! I have an idea! Let's have a battle!" Bianca said while setting Oshawatt down. Oshawatt looked ready to go, and Snivy looked up at White expectantly. She shrugged.

"You want to?" she asked him. Again her big blue eyes looked down at him hopefully. Already he couldn't say no to her, and he leapt from her arms and landed gracefully on the floor. He lazily folded his arms and sized up his opponent through his half lidded eyes. He let out a carefree yawn, which sent Oshawatt over the edge with anger. Tepig snorted with laughter.

"This is a terrible idea. What if we mess White's room up?" Cheren said scolding Bianca as he always did.

"Oh Cheren! They are so small and so cute! What's the worst they can do?" Bianca pointed to Snivy and called for Oshawatt to charge. White and Snivy got caught slightly off guard when Oshawatt slammed into Snivy' side. Snivy went skidding towards White. Something inside of White stirred. The normally indecisive girl glanced down at her pokemon. She judged how much the hit hurt Snivy and decided to see if her calculations had been correct.

"You ok?" she asked him. He leapt up at the sound of her voice. He nodded his head and quietly folded his arms again, waiting on her instruction. It reaffirmed what White saw. Oshawatt wasn't very strong in the physical department, well, not yet at least. Now it was time to test Snivy's power out a little bit.

"Tackle it!"

Snivy took off with a dash and traded the hit with Oshawatt. Before Snivy landed the hit, White noticed how nervous Oshawatt seemed when Snivy glared at him. It almost caused him to flinch and brace for the impact rather than skip out of the way of the forward charge that Snivy had taken. This gave White a really great idea as Bianca commanded Oshawatt to get up and tackle their opponent with all of his might.

Snivy glanced to White for instruction once Oshawatt got up.

"Glare at it, Snivy. Use leer," Snivy turned to the charging pokemon and gave it its best glare. Oshawatt fell for it completely. The tiny blue otter got nervous and tried to stop his charge immediately. Velocity was not on his side as he tripped and fell on its back, leaving its belly weak and unprotected.

"Tackle to finish it!" White snapped her fingers and pointed to the fallen Oshawatt. Snivy followed her orders quickly and efficiently. After the hit, Oshawatt's eyes were spiraling, and he passed out.

Bianca called back Oshawatt into his pokeball, and she and Cheren looked at White with amazement. White was giving Snivy a little high five when they shuffled up to her. She called Snivy back to his pokeball and looked at her friends happily.

"Thanks for the battle, Bianca! I think Snivy got a lot stronger because of it."

"How did you do all of that?" Bianca said with wonder.

"Do what, exactly?" White asked curiously.

"You knew Oshawatt's weakness and exploited it after only observing it in battle for mere minutes," Cheren straightened his glasses and put his hands thoughtfully to his chin, "I have a long way to go to catch up to your deductive skills, White."

"You looked so cool and natural during the whole thing too! I would have thought you were a pokemon master already," Bianca said giving White a pat on the back.

"Oh come on. You must have seen the way Oshawatt looked at Snivy. He looked completely intimidated. And of course his belly was his weakness! His little arms are always trying to cover it up," White explained, assuming her friends noticed everything that she saw like a bright neon signal. She felt stupid even explaining it to them.

The three agreed to meet at Professor Juniper's lab within a half an hour. It was already noon and they were running a little late on their schedule. The three of them looked between one another as they eyed White's now messy room, but the urge to leave outweighed the guilt to clean. White walked her friends downstairs, and they left quickly to say farewell to their parents. White looked at her own mother who stood in front of the entrance to their kitchen downstairs in the main hallway of their house. She held out her arms and White went crashing into her embrace.

"It's going to be hard for me for a little while, so don't complain if I call you multiple times a day," her mother said.

"Ok, mom," White said snuggling into her mom's shoulder, "I won't."

"Good."

Her mother pulled away to look at her and began to tear up.

"Have fun on your journey. I just, well, don't leave me the way your Dad did, ok?"

Every time her mother spoke about her father it devastated White. She had never even met the man, nor did she care to meet him. All she knew is that he left her mom a very long time ago, almost right after White was born.

"I would never. Ever." White said very seriously. Her mother hugged her tenderly again.

"Don't fall for the first boy you meet either!" he mother said squeezing her closely.

White rolled her eyes.

"Geez, mother," she snorted and backed away from the hug to look at her mom. White raised an eyebrow and looked at her mother skeptically.

"Allright! I know! You're a big girl now! 17 and all grown up! Just don't put out on the first date otherwise mistakes happen…"

"REALLY mother!" White shrieked and put her fingers in her ears. White was blushing profusely and her mother laughed at her daughter's childish reaction.

"I'll miss you. Please stop by if you get the chance, all right?"

"All right," White said, trying to put on her most brave and confident smile for her mom. She twisted the door handle to their old wooden front door.

"I love you! Oh and my room is kind of messed up…" White began meekly. Her mother shook her head.

"Love you too. Oh, and here's your map! Don't forget that!"


	3. Chapter two: Impressions

As White jogged her way to Professor Juniper's lab, She noticed Cheren and Tepig outside along with Juniper. They turned and waved at her when she got closer, and she slowed down and stopped beside them.

"Hello White!" Professor Juniper said in her normal kind tone. She was holding a cup of coffee in her right hand, and her left arm was wrapped around her waist.

"Professor, thank you so much for the pokemon that you sent us," White said graciously.

"I heard you picked Snivy," Juniper said conversationally.

"Oh yes, ma'am," she tried to be as polite as possible around the professor. Something about her made White feel a little uneasy. Although she was very friendly and seemed very generous, White, for some reason, was cautious of her kindness.

"Did our pokedexs come in?" White asked.

"Yes. Yes they did. I'll wait to hand them over to you until Bianca gets here. Speaking of, I hear you two had a little skirmish in your room. How did it go?"

"It went okay, I guess. We messed my room up a little," White said. Her eyes flickered over to Cheren who had a little smile on his face. She was sure he had already spilled every detail about the battle to the professor.

"Oh, I hear it was a little bit better than okay. I heard you won by thoroughly observing your opponent and exploiting its weakness."

White found herself grinding her teeth slightly. While it was nice to be praised, it really wasn't anything special. Snivy was the one who fought the battle, anyway.

"I wonder where Bianca is?" White tried to change the subject.

"How about while we wait for Bianca, you two battle?" Professor Juniper said slyly. Before White could interject, Cheren responded.

"That's a great idea, Professor."

White snapped Snivy's pokeball off of her belt and threw it in the air near her. Snivy exploded next to her while trying to do an activity. He was practicing quick pirouettes, and White knelt down beside him.

"What are you doing, Snivy?" she said, a little confused at her partner's recent obsession with spinning.

He tried desperately to explain to her in words and noises she could not understand. She tried her best to translate what he said to her, though.

"Are you maybe trying to learn a new attack?" White asked after watching him spin unnaturally fast and stop completely, leaving a small swirling cloud of dust in the air.

"Sniv!" he said proudly.

"Well, would you like to battle? Maybe you could test it out on Tepig," White asked her little lizard pokemon.

Snivy looked across the grassy field in front of Professor Juniper's lab where Tepig was already in position, smoke coming from his little nostrils. Snivy looked a little unsure, but scampered into position anyway.

"Go Snivy! Tackle Tepig!"

Snivy began to bound over to Tepig, who stayed rooted to his spot. Cheren pointed to Snivy and ordered an attack from Tepig.

"Use your new attack. Ember, Tepig!"

Tepig looked like he was chewing on something for a moment. In the next, he spewed tiny ember flames from his nostrils. They began to descend like flakes of flaming ash upon Snivy, who has now looking wearily at the blanket of fire above his tender leafy head. His running never slowed, though.

"Get out of range! Roll up to Tepig and tackle!" White said frantically. Grass was weak to fire. If Snivy got singed, it would all be over. Snivy managed to roll out from under the fire attack and leap into the air for a tackle. Before he made contact with the little pig, it flipped on it's back and exposed its large, rubbery belly. When Snivy came in contact with it, he was bounced back into the grass, where the hot embers were still sizzling on the ground. A portion of Snivy's tail caught on fire and the little lizard lost control. He ran back and forth wailing, and White had to holler at him to snap him back into the battle.

"Put your tail out on a safe patch!" she pointed to an area in front of her that was more gravel than grass. He ran over and squirmed around in the dirt, effectively putting out the fire. Snivy clenched his teeth and put himself back into battling position again. Tepig and Cheren each had matching confident smirks on their faces.

"I learned a lot from your battle with Bianca. I've spent the past half an hour training Tepig to learn his first attack, ember. Don't take us as lightly as you took our friend earlier, or you'll get burned. Right Tepig?" Cheren said, straightening his glasses. Tepig snorted his approval as Professor Juniper watched White closely. She was already hatching a plan in her head as she watched Snivy clean some of the dust off of his burnt tail, and rub some out of his eyes. The battlefield was now less grassy and more burnt to a crisp, leaving soot where the greenery once was. Snivy was looking a little out maneuvered at the moment, but White grinned when she thought of an idea.

"I won't make the same mistake twice. Ok, Snivy. Let's go. Trust me on this one, run in for the tackle attack!" Snivy didn't question his trainer's decision to repeat his charge, so he began to run towards Tepig even faster this time through the burned grass.

"Ember again, Tepig!" Cheren said quickly. More flames began to engulf the battlefield and fall, threatening to hit Snivy from above. Before Snivy made contact with Tepig, White snapped her fingers.

"Skid to a stop! Right in front of him!"

In that moment, Snivy completely understood what his master wanted him to do.

Snivy came to a stop right in front of Tepig, showering the little pig's face with ash and sand.

"Tepig! Push Snivy back into the embers with a tackle attack!" Cheren said quickly.

Tepig was, however, a little preoccupied with all of the grit in his eyes. He attempted to rub it out, but it wasn't working. Tepig tried to listen for Snivy, and charged forward. He missed the nimble Snivy by several inches and slammed his face into the ground, leaving him even more disoriented.

"Meet him head on with a tackle!" White said happily.

"Dodge it, Tepig!" Cheren blurted out. Tepig still could not see, and Snivy smashed into the front of his opponent, sending him flying from the sheer force.

"Send him higher, Snivy! Spin!" White wasn't sure what Snivy's new attack could do, but she knew at the speed he had been spinning earlier he might be able to send Tepig up higher; the impact from the fall would likely be able to knock him out. Snivy saw his chance and spun quickly to meet Tepig as he reached the height of his fall. Faster than any of them could follow their eyes, Snivy spun around Tepig, creating a small tornado around the pig pokemon. Snivy's sharp leaves seemed to be released in the spiral as well, damaging Tepig in the gale, as Snivy guided them straight into the ground.

Tepig hit the ground with a thud and Snivy landed on the scorched grass, skidding backwards on his feet gracefully. He looked up at White and she could read it on his confident face.

_And that's what *I've* been working on for the past half an hour._

Professor Juniper whistled, impressed with the display, and Cheren asked for Tepig to return to his pokeball. White walked up to him slowly and was looking at the scorched ground.

"That was such a good battle, Cheren. I don't think we would have won if Snivy hadn't shown me his spin attack before."

"That," Professor Juniper said while walking up to them, "Was Snivy's Leaf Tornado. Generally they can't learn it until they are very experienced in battle."

The three of them looked over at Snivy, who wobbled for a second and then fell into the burned grass with a thump.

"Snivy!" White shrieked and she ran to his side.

"Are you all right?" she asked the passed out pokemon. Professor Juniper followed her quickly.

"Return him to his pokeball. He really overexerted himself out there. I'm surprised he didn't pass out from just attempting the leaf tornado."

White fumbled with his pokeball, and managed to return him into it with a shaky hand. She stood up to Professor Juniper.

"What do I do now, Professor? How long do I let him rest? I don't own any potions yet and-" she aid worriedly.

"White, calm down. Professor Juniper has a machine to heal pokemon in her lab," Cheren said a little bewildered by White's innocent reaction.

"That's right! Both of you follow me! I'm sure your pokemon could use a little refresher after that tough battle!" Juniper said cheerfully.

Inside the lab, White and Cheren set their pokeballs down on a strange device that looked like a giant deviled egg tray. A rubbery, see-through capsule enclosed around them, and an image of both pokemon came on the monitor above the device. Under their pictures were descriptions such as their typing, and their height, weight, and current condition.

"So this heals all of their wounds?" White said anxiously.

"Oh yes. And it works very well. This is what the nurses use at pokemon centers," Juniper responded. After a few moments of silence Cheren put his hand to his chin thoughtfully as he often did, and decided to speak up.

"So now you see what I'm talking about, Professor? White is very talented in battle."

"Yes, I was surprised how well White and Snivy worked together. You and Tepig were very impressive as well," Professor Juniper said while typing in some commands to her pokemon healing computer. White didn't really understand the large machine, but she could see the progress bar on the large screen was nearly finished.

Somewhere in between their conversation Bianca came in and apologized for being late. Cheren recounted the battle to her.

"White ended the battle by using Snivy's leaf tornado. I must admit, it looked pretty cool," Cheren said with a cough. The machine finished and the dome retracted, letting Cheren and White grab their pokeballs.

"Speaking of leaf tornado! White, I wanted to tell you that Snivy really has no business using an attack of that caliber. It is over his head, and when he uses it, he expends all of his energy. Do you understand? Never use it."

White bit her lip as she picked up Snivy's pokeball. This was exactly the attitude that Professor Juniper had. She had to order everyone around. White would never hurt Snivy in any way, but just hearing the professor tell her what to do like she was a child made White feel a little angry inside. The last thing she wanted was to be treated like a kid. She was 17 years old after all, practically an adult.

"Yes, Professor," White said as pleasantly as she could manage.

"I can't wait till we battle again, White! It's going to be so cool!" Bianca said excitedly.

"I think we just need to focus getting out of Nuvema right now," White groaned. She didn't really enjoy the rivalry that was blossoming between herself and her two friends. Everything had always been very equal between the three of them. Now White felt as if she was in some sort of spotlight.

"Pokedex time!" Juniper announced. She stuck her arm inside the large pocket of her white labcoat and revealed 3 black tablets with face-plates that had an edgy pokeball design on them.

"Here you go, here you go, and, last but not least, here you go!" she said while she handed each one of them a pokedex.

"While you are on your travels, catch as many pokemon as you can. I want to see you all making lots of progress on these little buggers, ok?"

The three of them nodded. White was a little uneasy about it. Catch as many pokemon as she could? It sounded crazy. Where would she keep them all?

"Once you capture 6, the ones after that will automatically be sent to a computer network via your pokedex," Juniper explained.

"That makes sense," Cheren said with a nod, "and to get those pokemon out, we just swap some in our party with the ones on the PC at the pokemon centers, right?"

"That's correct," Juniper said bobbing her head up and down. As she shook, her beedril hive hair shook with her. Now White understood, but in her mind something seemed a little off about the whole thing. Well, Professor Juniper did give her a pokemon, so she would at least do what she could to help her.

"If that's all, professor, I would like to get going immediately. If you need anything else, just call me on my xtransciever," Cheren said. The three of them thanked the professor for the opportunity to go on the adventure, and they stepped outside together.

& & &

Sorry I had to establish all of this boring stuff. The fight was at least fun though, right? Anyway, the next chapter will take us down route 1, where White decides to take a detour…and her detour takes a turn for the worse.


	4. Chapter three: Encounter

The trio stopped at the sign for route 1, and Cheren turned to his two lady friends.

"I think I am going to train for a little while before heading over to Accumula Town," he pointed to some tall over growth, "I'm going to go in there and see if Tepig and I can challenge some wild pokemon."

"Hmm," Bianca said thoughtfully, "I just want to get to Accumula town and look around. What are you going to do, White?"

The two turned to her. Cheren was headed east, Bianca was headed north, and home was south. To the west was a small forest and a little beach if you traveled through the woods. It was a place White's mother took her frequently during the summer. Since fall had only just begun, the beach would still be warm enough to be pleasant.

"I think that I will take Snivy to go see the beach. I'll see you all in Accumula later tonight then?" White asked. The other two nodded, and with that, they split up.

White used her xtranciever as a compass to guide her north-west. She wanted to be very close to Accumula so that once she and Snivy were done playing at the beach they would only have to walk 10 minutes or so to reach town.

White managed to get to the beach in one piece. She and Snivy had to take on a few wild pokemon to get there, so she was exhausted by the time they reached the smooth sand and crisp water. She released Snivy from his pokeball and they both looked at one another. They were equally tired so White suggested that they relax under a tree and watch the sun set over the water. Snivy seemed keen on the idea, so White set her backpack down underneath a tree on some soft dirt near the border between the beach and the forest. She laid her head down on her backpack so that it was propped up slightly. Snivy crawled up on her tummy and put his arms behind his back so that he could watch as well.

"This is really nice, huh?" she said to Snivy as the water began to turn a golden orange color underneath the setting sun.

"Sniii…" Snivy sighed.

Full waves softly ran on to the sandy shore, and retracted easily. Watching the continuous flow of water made White feel a little drowsy. She could feel Snivy get very still and begin to breathe deeply, a sign that he was drifting off to sleep. Her eyes began to droop when she felt something nagging in the back of her mind. She tilted her head to the side to see a bush moving and dancing in the wind. That was strange. She could have sworn that she felt something watching her. She was so exhausted, though, that she took her pink hat and used it to cover her face as she drifted away in her dreamland past the sandy beach before her.

White awoke with a gasp. A large screeching bird swooped in front of her and grabbed her hat right off of her face. White sat up quickly, disoriented from suddenly being awoken by a large pokemon. Snivy slid off of her and hit the ground with a thump, which gave him quite a start as well. Underneath the moonlight, White could somewhat make out the face of a very angry hawk-like pokemon bearing down on her. How long had she and Snivy been asleep? The night sky was a deep navy signifying that the sun had disappeared a long while ago. The bird went in for a swoop again and White screamed. Snivy sprang into action and leapt into the air. He hit the oncoming bird with a sharp swish of his tail. The bird took the hit, but stopped its advance. Snivy fell from his jump and hit the sand on his side. He winced and glared up at the large bird pokemon shrieking at him.

"FWA! UFFWA!" it screamed down at them.

White nervously flicked open her pokedex. It read "Unfezant" and displayed its capabilities underneath the picture of the bird on the back-lit screen. White's eyes widened and she snapped the pokedex shut with her hands trembling. This foe was way beyond Snivy's skills.

"Snivy! We need to run!" White exclaimed. She picked up Snivy and quickly dashed into the woods. Snivy was furiously clawing at her, trying to get her to set him down so that he could go back and challenge the giant bird.

White nearly tripped over a log as she stumbled through the shadowy forest. The forest was so dark and dense that she couldn't see a thing. As she ran, vines and branches seemed to appear out of nowhere and strike at her, slashing at her face, arms, and legs. She held Snivy close to her chest to protect him as she scrambled half blind through the brush and leaves. When she finally reached a clearing Snivy managed to wiggle free. White spotted the large feathery monster, which had followed them above the trees. It let out a piercing screech and went to dive-bomb them again.

Snivy began to spin, hoping to catch the bird in a leaf tornado. White panicked.

"DON'T!" she hollered and launched herself onto Snivy, grabbing him into her protective arms. The large grey bird's wing hit her on her shoulder blade with full force and she and Snivy fell to the ground. White let out a cry of pain, her eyes shut tight in agony.

"Snivy? Vy?" Snivy said, tapping his master's cheek. The bird looked more determined than ever to attack them. Snivy turned around and readied himself to fend off White's attacker.

Out of the forest came a startling whistle. White was too busy grasping her shoulder in pain to hear it fully, but it got Unfezant's attention. A tender bruise had already begun to swell and form on White's back. Snivy peered into the darkness of the forest, but all he could make out were the tennis shoes of another person. The Unfezant called back to him as if threatening to attack him as well.

"Picking on defenseless people and pokemon that are weaker than you is very shameful, Unfezant," came a calm, male voice.

"Huh?" White gasped. Still on the ground, she tried to roll around but couldn't see anything but shadows past the trees. Some twigs snapped as the person that the voice belonged to ran back into the dense forest, and the Unfezant flew after it, completely enraged. A few seconds later, White sat up, still clutching her shoulder. Snivy looked at her sympathetically. White continued to stare at the darkness where the voice had come from. She hadn't seen any trainers walking through the woods while she explored with Snivy earlier that day.

"Whoever that was, they just saved us," White said, her eyes glittering with tears. Snivy looked down on the ground. He kicked a rock sourly, and huffed.

"Return, Snivy," White said, sticking out his pokeball. Before Snivy could protest, he was zipped away safely inside his little red and white ball.

"Now I can keep you safe. Just like I promised," she said, gingerly rubbing the ball. With one final glance into the shadows where her hero disappeared, she began to head in the direction to what she could only assume as Accumula City.

"Whoever you are…I hope you aren't hurt from helping me out."

White jogged along the wide trail to Accumula city. Several of the scrapes and scratches that had occurred while she was blindly tearing through the woods had begun to sting and bleed, and her shoulder was still pulsing with pain. Also, she was sure she had enough leaves in her hair to be inducted into the Poke Book of World Records as an honorary exeggutor look alike. Wild pokemon watched her pass, all looking as equally terrified as she was. Perhaps they knew what happened and they were willing to let she and Snivy pass without a battle. How fortunate she had been that there was someone else out in the woods with her. White could still hear her hero's voice, sharp as a swords dance yet soft as a cotton spore, challenging the unfezant. When she reached the entrance of the town, she put her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Her chest rose and fell quickly as she hastily sucked in air. She looked behind her and there was no sign of the fierce grey bird, or her savior. White decided to put it out of her mind and enter the pokemon center. The kind nurse behind the counter offered her a roll up futon and a bath kit after she paid for an overnight stay. The nurse also accepted Snivy into the overnight pokemon safe house, as no pokemon were allowed in the sleeping quarters for safety.

Just as White was walking in to the women's bathing area she found Bianca pacing back and forth. The blonde looked so relieved to see her smaller brunette friend that she flung herself onto her.

"Oh White! Cheren said he knew you were ok, so he went to bed, but I waited and waited for you, and you still hadn't shown up, so I decided to stay up, and-oh my gosh what happened to you?"

"It's a really long story, Bianca," White said while wincing from her friend hitting the tender spot on her back from their embrace.

"I need to take a shower. Can you ask the nurse if I could possibly get a cold compress, some bandaids, and something for bruising? I'm so drained that I completely forgot to ask her," White asked her friend.

Bianca fussed over her for another minute before leaving White to take a shower. White carefully pulled all of the twigs and leaves out her hair and took a hot shower. She went to the lounge room, which was right outside of the sleeping area. People were allowed to talk quietly in the lounge area, so she waited for Bianca on an unoccupied couch. White observed that there were very few travelers in this city, but she had heard that pokemon centers in some cities would sometimes have too many people. Hotels in cities were expensive, and White knew that her meager travel expenses would not last for long. She would need to start participating in trainer battles or small tournaments soon if she was going to survive. Bianca returned to White and helped her put some cooling cream on her bruised shoulder while White recounted her story.

"Girl you are so lucky that someone was there to help," Bianca said quietly, while giving White a friendly shoulder massage, "What could've happened I wonder, if that mystery guy hadn't come to your rescue…?

White shuddered.

"I don't even want to think about it. I just wonder why the unfezant decided to attack me."

"Maybe he really really wanted your hat?" Bianca said with a laugh. White couldn't help but laugh, too, at the image of the terrifying bird with her little pink hat on fluttering about the Unvoa region.

The two girls went to bed shortly after talking about Bianca's modest adventure through town with Oshawatt. White was completely wiped out after only her first night on the road. She hoped that every night wouldn't be this wild and crazy.

/end chapter 3/

Adventures on route 1 complete! Hmm…I wonder who her mysterious savior is?

Also, we won't find out until chapter 12 or 13 as to why White doesn't trust Professor Juniper, or really most adults for that matter. Please look forward to it!


	5. Chapter four: Gloaming

The next morning, Bianca was still knocked out when White awoke. She collected her things and left a note for her snoring blonde friend to call her on her xtransciever when she woke up. White pulled on some fresh clothes, the same coordination she wore yesterday. White's mother had purchased multiples of everything because the clothes were light and perfect for travel. Her outfit just wasn't the same without her hat, though. White sighed in disappointment as she ran her fingers through her wavy chocolate brown hair. Perhaps there was somewhere in town that sold hats so that she could replace her stolen one. She decided to leave her hair down while exploring the city further.

White collected Snivy from the front desk. When she got outside, she stood on the sidewalk in front of the pokemon center and released him from his little ball.

Snivy still looked a little peeved so White asked what was bugging him.

"Sni. Vy." Snivy said with a huff. White bit her lip.

"That was pretty scary yesterday, huh? What's got you so upset?" White asked him.

The pokemon didn't respond as he studied the ground. Cheren walked up to the two and yawned.

"Good morning White. What time did you end up getting into town last night?"

"Not until 1. What about you?"

"I got in around 11 or so. Tepig and I didn't have any problems finding wild pokemon to fight, so we got to train for a long time."

"I had a crazy night, myself," White sighed, completely exasperated by Snivy's cold attitude towards her this morning. Cheren raised an eyebrow as he looked her up and down. White had a few bandaids on her legs and had a somewhat shallow look on her tired face.

"I'd like to hear more about it. I could hardly sleep because I was so worried about you," Cheren said timidly. White tried to play it off as friendship but Cheren always said awkward things like that when they didn't have Bianca with them. White chose to ignore his comment and pretended to check her emails on her xtransciever.

"So, uh, what happened to your hat?" Cheren tried to ask White casually but something on the far side of town had caught her eye. A lot of people had gathered, and it seemed as if a cloaked man on the top of a grassy knoll was about to give a speech.

"Let's go check this out, Cheren. Come on Snivy," White said. The three made their way towards the crowd.

White stood on the outside of the group. She eyed the man about to speak curiously. Some of his attendants wore grey hoods, and black bands that covered their eyes. Two of them on each end held large banners that had the letter "P" printed on them in a decorative font. The man himself was wearing a purple cape that had rich embroidery scrawled along it, and a large bronze mantle along the bottom of his shoulders with startling blue stones socketed into it. He had long wispy light green hair like a fairy, but he was as tall and broad as a warrior. He also had an eerie eye patch over one of his eyes. His free eye met hers and White felt a shot of electricity running down her spine. She found herself unable to stop glaring back at the leader of the drones.

And then he smiled down at her.

White held her breath as another warning jolt traveled down her spine. His smile was hollow and empty. Everything in her being began to warn her that this man was trouble. When he blinked and looked away from her, White released her breath. She had goosebumps running up and down her arms and legs.

"Are you all right?" Cheren asked her seriously.

"There is something off about that…man," White said quietly between clenched teeth. Her stomach squirmed from simply watching him pace around the hill, calmly surveying the group that gathered for him.

"White?" Cheren asked again. White felt someone stand near her to watch the speech as well. Somehow it made her snap out of her inward worries. She shook her head.

" 'm fine," she mumbled out as the man began his speech.

"Travelers, trainers, and citizens. I am here this morning to give voice to those that we simple humans cannot understand. Our so-called friends. Our so-called partners. Yes, I am talking about pokemon."

White looked down at Snivy, who scampered up her leg to stand on her shoulder. He clung to her tightly, his eyes also glaring at the man. He let out a small growl of disapproval. Clearly her little lizard felt the same way she did about the speaker.

"I know Snivy," White muttered, "Let's just watch for now, ok?"

"Pokemon are innocent creatures that we use day by day. They work beside us, and toil endlessly. What do they gain from our partnership? Nothing!" The man exclaimed. White jumped from his condemning bark. People in the crowd began to whisper curiously about the speech.

White began to feel uncomfortable. What did pokemon gain from the partnership, anyway? She listened while trying not to get freaked out by the man towering above her.

"Just what is this garbage?" Cheren said quietly. He straightened his glasses and crossed his arms.

"And how can we call ourselves friends of pokemon when we contain them in pokeballs effectively chaining them down to live a helpless life? A life that you choose for them!" his eyes met White's again, "How pathetic. How selfish."

White looked to the side quickly. His light eyes were as piercing as an ice shard.

"Pokemon liberation is the only answer. Only then can we live side by side with pokemon...as equals! I implore you, my friends, consider my words of wisdom. Consider them not for your sake, but for your poor oppressed pokemon. I thank you for your time."

The man turned on one heel and marched away with his assistants following him. White ran her hand through her hair nervously and began to twirl some loose strands between her fingers. As people began to disperse, still buzzing from the intensity of the speech, White still found herself rooted to the spot. She couldn't stop thinking about what the man said about the partnership between people and pokemon. Some of what he said made sense to her, but other parts were wrong in some way. She didn't have an answer as to why or how, but she just knew that it was wrong. Snivy hopped off White's shoulders and walked over to something behind her.

White turned to Cheren, biting her bottom lip nervously. She had been a little disturbed by his speech and needed some insight.

"So what do you think?" She asked him.

"Well," Cheren said bitterly, "I've never heard so much nonsense come out of someone's mouth before."

"I don't know. Some of it was…a little radical, but some of it was also understandable. It's just, that guy just seemed really creepy. I felt a little frightened by him."

"I agree with you," a calm voice said from behind her.

White and Cheren turned to look at the man who was petting Snivy. Snivy ran back over and happily tapped White's leg, and pointed to him excitedly.

"I know that voice..." White said, stunned.

/end chapter 4/

I know this one is short, but the next one will be ridiculously adorable. Ridiculously. Thanks to my reviewers for sending me kind words and good vibes! It really helps push my imagination into gear to get everything down for yall. I appreciate it!


	6. Chapter five: Friendliness

"Who are you?" Cheren asked pointedly.

The young man stood up from his crouching position. He was nearly a foot taller than White and had long, light green hair tied together in the back. Deep green eyes shined curiously from underneath his black and white hat. His face wore an expression of indifference. White's eyes locked on to his for hardly a moment, but his eyes flickered down hastily to his black messenger bag, which was slung over one of his shoulders. White felt her ears burning and she began fiddling with her hair again. She found him very attractive.

"Did you really find everything he said to be rubbish though?" the stranger asked smoothly.

Cheren snorted as if what he said was funny.

"Yeah. The whole lot of it," he replied.

"You're a trainer...aren't you supposed to be a friend to pokemon? If you would just listen to their requests, I am sure you would see why they hate being enslaved."

"Listen to pokemon?" Cheren scoffed, "that might work, but people can't understand pokemon speech."

The young man straightened the black and white hat on his head. He seemed a little embarrassed.

"You can't either. How curious. I guess most people can't," He said thoughtfully as if White and Cheren weren't even next to him.

"Excuse me," White piped up. The two men turned to her and she smiled now that she had his attention.

"Were you the one in the forest outside of Accumula? Last night?" she asked.

The young man looked a little nervous to answer her.

"I was in a forest last night," he said quickly, as if it was an afterthought.

"It was you!" White exclaimed

"What are you talking about?" Cheren said putting a hand on his waist, "do you know him?"

"I was attacked by a crazy pokemon last night," White replied, "it was too dark to see, but I totally remember your voice. You saved me!"

She gasped before she could continue.

"Oh, but are you all right? It didn't hurt you, did it?"

"Oh, no. No, she didn't hurt me," he said bashfully, "she was just a little upset about some things. I was able to calm her down very quickly."

Cheren cleared his throat.

"What exactly happened to you last night?" Cheren said, trying to capture White's attention.

"How can I repay you?" White asked him quickly.

"That's not necessary," he said, shuffling backwards.

"Oh there must be something I could do," White tapped her index finger to her chin.

"Look, White, I'll meet you by the exit to the town. I caught some new pokemon last night and the nurse at the pokemon center is still holding them for me," Cheren said directly to White.

The green haired man seemed to snap to attention at Cheren's comment. His eyes narrowed slightly.

"Is 20 minutes all right?" Cheren asked.

"Maybe. I'll send you a message on the xtransciever if my plans change," White said with a smile. As Cheren walked away the other man stepped forward slightly.

"Excuse me, but I must ask: did you happen to capture a pidove yesterday evening?"

"Yes, I did," Cheren said in tone sharper than a syther, "why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. Good luck on your travels," the stranger said icily. Cheren sauntered away leaving White and the young man alone.

White looked him up and down. He was standing nearly 8 feet away from her, which was an awkward distance considering that he was holding a conversation with she and Cheren from so far away. White was very curious about her rescuer, so she decided to make an effort to get to know him. He seemed nice enough.

"I'm sorry. My friend can be a little rude," White said to the mysterious man. She smiled brightly at him and he glanced back at her with a look of distrust.

"White," she took a step forward to close some of the distance between the two of them and stretched out her hand to shake his. The young man stepped back on his left foot, but kept his right in place. He looked at her wearily, like her hand might detach itself from her arm and pull out his hair.

White tilted her head to the side after a few moments of no response from the young man.

"Oh..kay," she said withdrawing her hand. She looked a little disappointed. For some reason, he felt the need to quickly fix her displeasure.

"What is 'White?'" the man asked her, still a little anxious. White laughed and shook her head.

"Oh! That's my name. White. Pleased to meet you. And you are?"

"N," he said slowly, still peering at her with his questioning green eyes. White seemed to think his name was funny, too, because she giggled a little more.

"Seems like neither of our parents were very creative when naming us," she remarked.

"I guess not," N said nonchalantly.

"All right, so now that we've met each other, let's try this again," White extended her arm once more. N was now staring at her blankly, as if he was under the influence of a confuse ray.

"You can shake my hand. It's not like I'm a garbador or anything," she said with a roll of her eyes. That was true. White looked nothing like a garbador. N awkwardly stuck his hand out slightly, trying to mimic her. White once again took a step towards him, and before he could step backward, her hand met his and gripped it lightly. She moved their hands up and down in unison.

"See? Geez, you would think that you've never had to shake someone's hand before."

N looked mildly surprised as their hands continued to bob up and down together. Of course he had heard of the practice of shaking hands, but it was something that he wasn't really used to. Most people didn't touch him around…where he was from. His hand finally gripped hers lightly and they ended their handshake after a few more moments. For some reason, White was smiling pretty big, and her cheeks were blushing a bit.

"Hmm, it's kind of hot out here, don't you think?" she said with a sigh. She touched her hands to her face as if trying to calm her blush down.

"I find it adequate. Especially in the forest area past Accumula Town," N said putting his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sure the beach is really nice right now," she said with a nod.

His face didn't show any signs that she affected him, but inside his heart was beating like crazy from just their simple interactions.

"I see you've already met Snivy," White said nodding down to her little green friend.

"Oh, yes. He is a very kind and observant pokemon. He said he remembered my shoes," N said, also smiling down at Snivy.

"Said?" White repeated him with a tilt of her head.

"I meant seemed. He seemed to remember my shoes. In the forest," N said while looking to the side.

White felt her stomach grumble from hunger, and she held it uncomfortably. Her empty tummy gave her a spark of inspiration.

"Hey! I've got a great idea! How about I take you out?"

N was almost afraid to ask.

"Take me out?" he repeated White, just as she did for him earlier.

"Yes! Have you had lunch yet? I'm starving. It would be nice to have the company, plus I just wouldn't feel right not repaying you in some way. You did save Snivy and I. I'd like to take you out to lunch to show you my thanks."

"You would like for me to join you for lunch?" N asked her, trying to clarify the saying.

"Yes! It's on me!" White said waving her hand. She began scanning the few buildings in the town, looking for a spot for lunch.

"On you?" N said quietly. He certainly hoped he would not have to eat lunch off of his new friend. His eyes followed her smooth brunette hair to where it waved and curled at the ends, down lower to the dip of the curve in her back, and then to…

He stopped his imagination to a screeching halt. It must have been another saying. White wouldn't make a very good plate. She was entirely too curvy everywhere.

"There's a bistro near the entrance to route 2. Are you up for something like that?" White asked N.

"Well…" He began. He was going to try and think of some sort of excuse as to why he could not join this girl. She was a trainer after all, and he had been warned about them. He peered down into her bright blue eyes. She looked at him with so much hope, as if his refusal would shatter her little luvdisc heart.

What could a little lunch hurt? He did admire how she defended her Snivy in the forest. Besides, it might be good for him to see into the life of a real trainer. She didn't seem as cruel and brutal as he had been told that they were.

"That would be fine," he uneasily surrendered.

That seemed to satisfy her enough. She clapped her hands and told N and Snivy to follow her.

/end chapter 5/

Sorry this is so short. I have no consistency when it comes to length of chapters. Some are short and some are long. It just depends on when I can end things on a satisfying stopping point or a mouth-watering cliffhanger. Also, sorry White and N don't battle! As a little spoiler, I'll let you know that they don't battle for a long time. When they finally do, it is kind of heart wrenching :/

Thanks so much to the reviewers! Yall have no idea…when I came home from work and saw that I had reviews, I hugged my laptop and yelled "I'M SO HAPPY!" to the top of my lungs at my house! Ahahaha! xD


	7. Chapter six: Study Sessions

With his arms crossed and his chin on the sill, N gazed out of the window in the library longingly. How long had it been since Ghestis had moved him permanently to the castle? To this 9 year old, it felt like ages since he had been outdoors. His nose was practically pressed against the glass as he watched a baby purloin and two liepards playing in the clearing in front of the castle. Even at 3 floors up in the giant fortress, he could still make out their shiny purple coats and carefree expressions.

"My Lord, please. Come away from that window," his tutor called.

N tore himself away from the window begrudgingly. He sat down on a chair next to the pink haired woman and slumped in his seat miserably. The young woman gave him a kind smile and slid a book over to him.

"Have you read the section that I asked you to read last week?" she asked sweetly. She pushed some hair behind her ear and waited for an answer.

N mumbled something in response.

"N. Please speak at a level where I can hear you," she said firmly.

"I have read the whole book," the nine year old said while he avoided eye contact.

The young woman tried to hide her surprise. It had been like this since she and her sister began working at the castle tutoring N. Her sister, who taught N mathematics and science, told her that he worked on a level far beyond that of a 9 year old. She, on the other hand, taught N literature, grammar, history, and a little bit of etiquette. He seemed to be insulted by the simple stories and history lessons that had been approved for her to teach. Last week she decided to bring a book of poetry that was far beyond his level just to see if he could understand any of it.

Very curious. He read the entire thing. But did he comprehend it…?

"Well then. Can you tell me what your favorite poem was in the entire book?" she asked him.

"Eliot. Prufrock," N said eagerly. His eyes met hers and she sighed from relief. For the first time he actually seemed a little interested, though he picked a very difficult poem.

"That is a really tough one to understand. What do you think about Mr. J. Alfred Prufrock? What is the setting of the story?"

N thought about it for a moment.

"In his mind. It is a monologue to himself."

She raised her eyebrows, obviously impressed by how well he was able to grasp the poem and his choice of description. She had never met a 9 year old that knew what a monologue was. The tutor asked him another question.

"Mr. Prufrock….while he thinks to himself, is he happy or sad?"

"He is sad. Tormented. He wants a girl to like him, but he's scared that she will not like him back."

Before she could ask another question, he finally decided to take the initiative to ask a question of his own.

"What does the beginning of the poem mean?"

"Well…it's a line from Dante's Inferno. It addresses the reader."

"Oh. Hamlet is in the poem. He is from a Shakespeare story. I have never been able to read any of those yet. I asked, but Ghestis would not give them to me. I have seen the names come up in other books, though. That is how I know about it," N said quickly.

N looked like he wanted to continue, but there was a sharp knock on the door.

They both recognized who it was simply from the knock.

N straightened himself up in his seat, and all excitement drained from his face into a look of simple placidity. A tall man entered the room with a scowl. N rose stiffly from his chair and walked over to the man. The boy bent his back in a short bow and then looked up at him.

"That will be all this afternoon, Miss Anthea. N has a special guest waiting for him in his room," the man said.

N frowned.

"As you wish, Master Ghestis," Anthea said. She stood up and bowed as well.

"Is it a hurt pokemon?" N asked Ghestis. Ever since Ghestis made him come and stay on the inside of the castle, the man forced N to interact with physically and mentally injured pokemon. The tall man looked down at the boy.

"Pokemon hurt by trainers. I want you to listen to it," Ghestis said with a stern look on his face. N's frown deepened and his eyebrows furrowed.

"You will go to your room. Now." Ghestis said. He turned around abruptly.

"I don't want to," N said quietly.

Ghestis turned around slowly. Anthea's eyes widened.

"What did you say to me, boy?"

"I really would like to go outside and play with the pokemon out there. May I?" N asked. He clenched his eyes shut and the man leaned over and roughly grabbed the collar to his blue t-shirt. The boy cried out as Ghestis shook him.

"Listen. Never talk back to me. You will do as you're told, boy," Ghestis said firmly while shaking him back and forth. Anthea covered her mouth as she gasped. She stayed rooted to the spot with her knees trembling.

"C-could I maybe just for a little while?" N said quietly. This caused him to be jerked around with even more force.

"Are you listening to me, boy? Are you paying attention? Look at me," Ghestis barked. N opened his frightened eyes to look Ghestis in the face. Tears began creep at the corners of his eyelids as he looked at the terror of the man that held him. The man released him violently and N hit the floor on his back.

"There is no "maybe." There is only yes and no. There is, or there is not. You will, or you will not. You will not be returning to the outside. You will go and listen to the pokemon that is in your room. You will not cry like a pathetic fool. Have I made myself clear?"

The boy sat up and nodded. He shakily got to his feet and walked out of the room. Ghestis looked at Anthea and raised an eyebrow. She had managed to compose herself, but her knees were still shaking. Ghestis' eyes traveled from her to the book on the table. He strode over to it and snatched it away. After thumbing through a few pages, his frown began to deepen and his look of displeasure grew. As Ghestis neared the middle, he took the large book and, with one swift jerk, ripped it in half. Anthea clenched her fists and inhaled sharply. She continued to stare straight ahead and look indifferent.

"Please do not wander from the assigned lessons, Miss Anthea, or you will be terminated."

/

Snivy hitched a ride on White's shoulders and spoke lively to N, who walked behind her as they traveled to the restaurant. White wondered why Snivy seemed to speak to N. She glanced back to watch him, but he was simply listening to her pokemon so intently. It was almost as if N could understand what the tiny lizard was saying. White laughed at herself inwardly. Yeah. Like that was even possible. Perhaps he was just entertaining Snivy, and she felt a blush creep across her cheeks. She would need to watch out for this N! Handsome and good with pokemon? She could fall for a guy like that.

Even though it was busy due to the lunch rush hour, White was able to get a table easily since there were only 2 of them plus Snivy, who could sit on White's lap. White finished typing her text to Bianca and Cheren, which explained that she would be staying in Accumula until later that afternoon, and that they should just continue on without her.

"What do you think Snivy? Should I go with the pumpkin soup, or one of the salads?"

"Vy! Vyyyy!" Snivy said happily. N smirked as if he was stifling a chuckle.

"I think it is safe to say that Snivy would like for you to get a salad."

White was confused.

"How did you know?" White asked.

"Oh, well, Snivys, Servines, and Serperiors tend to enjoy leafy greens," N said, sinking into his chair slightly.

"Servine? Serperior? Are those types of pokemon?"

"Oh," N said, and his small smile stretched a bit, "Those are snivy's evolved forms."

"Oh!" White said surprised, "So Snivy can evolve."

White looked down at Snivy, and he looked up at her with his wide dark red eyes. After a moment, Snivy looked down at the table without saying anything. He then hastily crawled over to N and sat deliberately in his lap.

"Actually," N began while clearing his throat and petting Snivy's smooth head, "it seems to me like Snivy might be feeling a little hurt that you didn't let him fight yesterday. You stopped him while he was in the middle of his attack. While I found it very amiable, Snivy might have seen it as a blow to his pride."

"Snivy is mad at me?" White said with a tilt of her head.

"Though…I could be wrong. It's just an observation," N said quickly.

"Are you upset with me?" White said directly to Snivy. It did just dawn on her that she might have hurt his feelings without realizing it.

"Sniv," Snivy said from N's lap.

"I'm so sorry Snivy. Really, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Snivy hummed a tune of satisfaction.

"I'm sure all has been forgiven now," N said while closing his menu with a little smile tugging at the corner of his lips. White's interactions with pokemon were…cute.

White snuck a peek at N, who was looking out the window by their table. There was something very different about him. Something mysterious and puzzling. White was in general a very curious person so she decided to find out a little more about her new friend who sat across from her.

"So N, where are you from?"

He sighed and glanced to the side. She could see his eyes move about quickly studying the window-pane, formulating an answer.

"I'm from the Unova region," he said distantly. She laughed and shook her head.

"Nonono. I mean what town do you live in?"

"I don't really live in a town," his eyes flickered up to hers, "where are you from?"

"I'm from Nuvema. It's only like an hour away from here on foot. I live there with my mom," White smiled sheepishly, "but I've actually just left home yesterday to become a pokemon trainer."

"So you _are_ a trainer," N sounded slightly disappointed, but at least he was able to change the subject, "I guess I am one, too. In a way."

"Oh really?" White gushed, "I kind of figured. The way you really know how to decipher what Snivy wants and all. You must be very experienced."

"Oh no. No not me. I'm just traveling with my friend Zorua."

"What? Seriously?" White tried to say, but their waitress popped in to their conversation to take their order.

"Have you spent time with snivys in the past?" White asked as Snivy scampered across the table back to White to switch laps after the waitress left.

"I have met a serperior in the past, but never a snivy. They are just as cunning as their older counterparts. I can tell that Snivy is very strong for it's age."

"How?" White asked. She was very interested to know how N knew all of these things about pokemon.

"Well," N began, as if he was teaching a lesson, "the length of a snivy's gold collar is a sign of how old it is. Considering that some snivy's collars can grow to become longer than their tail, it's quite easy to deduce that your snivy is young. He probably isn't even a year old yet."

White's jaw dropped.

"But that's not all!" N said excitedly, now talking very quickly, "you can tell a snivy's basic strengths from the color of its collar. Usually most snivys have a very dull yellow coat but Snivy on the other hand has a gold sheen to it. He is going to become very powerful one day."

Snivy puffed his chest out and nodded with a smirk.

"What can you tell me about..." White thought of a pokemon off the top of her head, "tepigs?"

"Tepigs are very enthusiastic and impatient pokemon. When they begin to stop blowing smoke out of their noses, you can tell that they have become more mature, and are able to control their fire attacks effectively."

"Zebstrika," White said slyly.

"Zebstrika are quick to anger. They have excellent reflexes. Oh, and speed! Zebstrika can be very fast."

Before N could continue, White blurted out another, "Audino!"

"Audino are known to have an excellent sense of hearing."

"Reuniclus!"

N actually laughed. Out loud. White raised her eyebrows at his new expression and her own face broke into a large grin of disbelief. She was amazed at how laid back and friendly he became when discussing pokemon.

"One of my favorite pokemon. There is too much to say!"

White continued to drill him about pokemon. The two hardly noticed when their waitress brought their food to their table, and they were too busy talking to notice Snivy stealing large pieces of lettuce and herbs straight from their plates. They were also too busy enjoying each other's company to notice the lunch crowd die down, or the waitress bring the check. When White finally noticed that they had been talking for nearly 2 hours she hailed the waitress over, and asked for to go boxes and plastic silverware, which she brought promptly. She was so embarrassed to have taken up the waitress' table for so long. White suggested she and N eat outside on a bench.

"Generally, does one not eat the food that they order in a restaurant?" N said, obviously very confused.

"Well, since we have been sitting here for so long talking, I don't want to waste anymore of our waitresses time and wait-" White stopped her explanation, "Haven't you ever been out to eat before?"

"No. I've never been to a restaurant in my life. I have read about them."

"Wow really?," White said as the two of them filled up little styrofoam boxes with their practically untouched salads, "And I thought I was sheltered. You must be from out in the middle of nowhere. My mom and I eat here when we visit the beach, but this is the farthest I've been away from home. This is the only restaurant I have ever been to, actually. I hear families in bigger cities go out to eat for dinner every night."

She grabbed the little black book, which housed the receipt for their meal.

"Though I wonder how they can manage that," her eye twitched as she looked at the check. She sat Snivy down on the table and swung her messenger bag into her lap. While she was digging through her bag looking for her wallet, N carefully reached across the table to look at the check.

"This is for our meal that we will be eating outside?" he asked.

"Yes," White sighed, and she continued to absentmindedly rummage through her things.

N reached into the back pocket of his khaki pants and pulled out his own black tri-fold wallet. He carefully placed a shiny black credit card on top of the receipt and shut the book with a snap. The waitress picked up the booklet and walked away right when White proudly found her decrepit aipom wallet. White unzipped the top and found a couple of bills. She then scanned the table for the booklet.

"Where did the check go?"

Her question was answered as the waitress brought the card and booklet back to N. He neatly scrawled his signature on the credit card receipt and retrieved his card from the booklet.

"Thank you…Mr. Harmonia. You both have a nice day," the waitress said as pleasantly as she could while sneaking a peek at the receipt to get his name.

White glared at him from across the table. N sat there pleasantly looking back at her.

"What shall we do now?" he asked.

"I was going to take care of it," she huffed. N blinked a few times.

"I have been told that it is rude to let a lady pay," he said simply.

White bit the side of her cheek in her mouth and angrily twirled some of her hair between her fingers. They sat there in silence for a few moments, until White finally snatched her to-go box and plastic silverware.

"Let's go," she said flatly. Snivy and N followed her out. Once outside, White found a bench, and popped her box open. She began to munch furiously on her salad. N sat down on the other end of the bench, with Snivy climbing in between them, and opened up his own container. Before he began to eat, he had to tell White something.

"White?" he said quietly.

"Hn?" she said in between putting a large bite of dressing covered lettuce and carrots into her mouth.

"I just wanted to say that having lunch with you was really enjoyable. I have never really had the opportunity to speak with a girl my same age before," he said awkwardly, poking his salad with a fork. White's eyes widened, and she gulped down her food. She looked over to N, who looked somewhat embarrassed after his confession. She felt like an ass for being so rude to him about paying. He was just trying to be a gentleman, after all.

"I had a lot of fun, too. Thanks for buying me lunch," she smiled at him, "It's really good. The salad is. Eat up."

They ate in silence with White considerably happier than when she began eating. After they ate and disposed of their garbage, they walked with each other to the sign for route 2. They stood awkwardly in front of it, waiting on the other to say something. Snivy tugged on N's pants leg and chirped, and N's face lit up.

"I almost forgot!" he reached into his messenger bag. White watched him curiously as he pulled something out. In his hands was a pink and white hat with a pokeball design on the front.

"My hat!" she exclaimed breathlessly, "How did you find it?"

"I was going to just hand it to Snivy to give to you earlier, but I couldn't help responding to your statement."

"Which was?" she said while she began artfully pulling her wavy hair into a pony-tail.

"You said that you found some parts of the speech understandable. Also," N looked off into the distant forest on route 2, "You said that you found the speaker to be frightening. I agreed with you."

N handed White her hat, which she put on her head and slipped her wavy brown hair though the back.

"He gave me the creeps," White said with a nod, "Thank you so much for getting my hat back!"

"My pleasure."

They stood there in silence until N shrugged.

"I suppose I will be going now. It was nice to meet you," he reluctantly began to walk away until White shouted.

"Wait!"

N turned around.

"You're headed down route 2 as well? Why don't we travel together!"

"You want me to come with you?" N said raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah! It will be great! It's a two day walk to Striaton city, and Snivy and I would be so bored unless-"

White continued to talk, but N's ears blocked her out. Her lips moved and there was much animation on her face, but there was no sound. A memory came to him as he tried to focus on White, the trainer in front of him.

Trainers are not to be trusted. They may seem innocent but they are ignorant to the damage that they are causing their pokemon.

White gave her best smile and tilted her head to the side.

The way that they imprison pokemon is a crime. While you are out in the world, you may come across many trainers. Each one of them is evil.

He looked into White's large aqua eyes. Blameless and beautiful. Innocent. Just as he had been told she would be.

Be on your guard around them. Never trust them. Even a trainer's pokemon may seem brainwashed into thinking their trainer is their friend. You've seen them: Pokemon that have been hypnotized by their trainers. Then abandoned or abused or neglected. We can't have our king being fooled by their lies and deceit. Always be on your guard.

N shut his eyes in frustration and grit his teeth. Somehow, he could never see the girl in front of him do such a thing. N had to admit: she fascinated him. If she was the bait, then he would take it.

"You're traveling to Striaton city?" N opened his eyes and asked White. Her head bobbed up and down in a nod, and her ponytail swished behind her. He smiled darkly.

"Then it would be most enjoyable to have company for I am going to Striaton next as well."

"Great!" White said and she looked down at Snivy, "Is that okay with you?"

Snivy seemed pretty excited, and White returned him to his pokeball, and attached it to her belt clip. N frowned as he watched, and she dusted her hands off.

"Shall we?" she said, and, with a little bounce in her step she began the walk down route 2 with her new friend.

/end chapter 6/

The abrasive begining of this chapter was actually attatched to a different chapter, but the more and more I read it, the more unhappy I became with the placement. I think it suits this one very nicely and it made this chapter really long! I hope yall enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading and reviewing. It makes me happy to know if I have made you happy as well. Please continue to look forward to the evolution of feelings, character, and personality of N and White!~


	8. Chapter seven: Heedless

The pair walked the path to Striaton, both being careful to avoid tall grass where they could disturb pokemon nests. Instead of having problems with wild pokemon, White had to deal with the challenge of random trainers begging her for battles. Each trainer was defeated with ease thanks to Snivy and his new amazing attacks that he learned along the way.

"Now use your vine whip to send him flying!" White ordered Snivy. Snivy flung his wrapped opponent, a small lilipup, up into the air. He then retracted his vines and watched his opponent hit the ground hard.

"Lilipup return!" the trainer boy said miserably. He knew there was no way his puppy could get up after the intense assault from the little green lizard across from him.

White thanked Snivy for his efforts and returned him to his pokeball.

"Thanks for the battle," the young boy said with a huff. He held out some money and White accepted it gratefully.

"Do you know how much farther it is until my partner and I reach Striaton City?" White asked the boy politely.

"Yeah, sure, it's like a little over a 2 hour walk down in that direction," the boy pointed, "You'll see a sign."

White thanked him and he dashed away from her, clearly embarrassed by his loss. N stood up from his seat near a large tree trunk as White trotted up to him. He dusted off his pants and looked at her expectantly.

The sun was nearly about to set on their third day wandering though the maze of trees. At some point on the first afternoon after they left Accumula, White's Xtransciever battery died and they were left to follow the path. Instead of backtracking to Accumula to get a new battery, they both decided to be a little adventurous and use the map that White's mother had given to her. Unfortunately, the path ended and they had to walk though tall grasses and bushes until they ended up somewhere in a dense forest. Sleeping in the forest hadn't been unbearable, but the lack of a suitable place to clean up left the two of them a little desperate to find the town. At least the company had been pleasant. White kept N entertained with stories about Cheren, Bianca, and herself growing up, and N thought up riddles and puzzles to challenge White; She was never able to solve any unless he gave her hints, though.

They drilled each other about their personal likes and dislikes. White enjoyed dancing around her room to catchy pop music. N enjoyed playing piano. White enjoyed eating potato chips and reading manga until 1 AM. N enjoyed long afternoons reading and then studying allegories behind the stories, or analogies between different pieces of literature. White disliked studying and struggled in most subjects. N enjoyed every subject, especially science ("How can you understand all that crazy stuff?" White said after N described the basics of carbon chains to her.)

"It figures with my luck," White said with a sigh.

"How far away are we?" N asked.

"A couple of hours in that direction, and we should be there," White said grimly, "I was hoping we could get there before the sun went down, but that battle just took up way too much time."

"mm," N agreed, "You could always decline. Snivy looked exhausted during that last battle."

"It's disrespectful to decline from a pokemon battle, but you're right. We'll probably take a long break from battles when we reach Striaton."

They began their trek again, but White decided to speak up.

"You know, you could enter in some pokemon battles. We've been out here for a few days and I've never once seen you use your pokemon. What was its name?"

"Zorua."

"Yeah! Zorua! I've never even heard of that pokemon," Whte said and her fist met her palm decidedly, "All right. Go on. Send it out of its pokeball. I want to see!"

"What do you mean? Zorua has been following us ever since we began our journey," N said. He pulled a hand out of his pocket and gestured behind them.

"He is behind us right now."

"Really? Why didn't you tell me!" White spun around excitedly. She scanned the trees behind them for any movement, and N grinned at her enthusiasm.

"Stop teasing her, Zorua. You can come on out."

To White's surprise a black boot that looked strangely like hers poked out from behind a tree. She watched as a leg finally came into view followed by the rest of a girl that looked very similar to her.

Actually it looked identical to her. Her hair, outfit, face, everything was identical to White.

White stood completely dumbfounded by the girl in front of her. She gasped when the Fake White stuck its tongue out at them.

"Zooooor," fake White said.

"Wh-what on earth…?" White exclaimed. She didn't know whether to be completely flabbergasted or utterly terrified. N laughed out loud, something White hadn't heard him do very often. With her hands shaking, she pulled out her pokedex and pointed it at the mirror of herself.

"That's really good, Zorua, but as usual, you forgot to tuck in your tail!" N said still chuckling.

"Zor?" the fake white said, shocked. 'She' turned around and, sure enough, there was a giant fluffy black tail at the base of the back in the middle of White's shorts. Fake White shrugged and let out a sigh of disappointment. With a sudden shudder, the fake White dematerialized to form a tiny black fox no bigger than Snivy.

"Zorua is the 'tricky fox' pokemon?" White said staring at her pokedex to get information.

"I suppose one could call it that," N said nonchalantly. He was eyeing the pokedex suspiciously.

"That's interesting," White smiled down at Zorua and squatted down to say hello while stashing her pokedex back in her pocket. Zorua immediately freaked out and went to hide behind N's legs.

"Did I do something wrong?" White worriedly asked N.

"Zorua. She will not harm you," N said quietly to the tiny black pokemon.

Zorua gave N a pathetic whimper.

"I promise. Just go and say hello."

Zorua growled a little and bit at N's pants leg. He didn't want to follow N's orders.

"Humor me," N said flatly.

Zorua trotted up to White, and looked at her timidly.

"Don't worry. He won't bite unless you move too quickly. Put your hand out slowly and he will come to you," N said. He seemed a little nervous too.

White obeyed N and carefully reached her hand out to Zorua. The fox walked a few steps forward nervously. It shut its eyes and pushed the top of its head up to White's outstretched palm. White looked at N excitedly, and he gave her a small smile of reassurance.

White began scratching the top of Zorua's soft head with her long fingernails. She moved her fingers behind Zorua's ears and it mewed in satisfaction and scooted slightly closer to her.

"Oh, Zorua! Your fur is so soft!" White said quietly while massaging underneath his chin. Zorua glanced up at White with a look of surprise. Seeing her smile down at him made Zorua bury as much of its face as it could into its fuzzy mane bashfully.

Zorua decided to leap back to N and he smiled up at his trainer. With a hop Zorua sprung onto N's shoulder with one jump. N straightened his hat.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," White said, still kneeling. She held out her arms.

"Can you help me up?"

Zorua seemingly whispered something into N's ears, and N nodded.

"O-okay," he said shakily.

He took her hands into his and helped lift White up off the ground. When she was on her feet, she was facing he and Zorua.

"Thank you, N," she said sweetly. It was then that he noticed the short distance between the two of them and became a little uncomfortable. She reached out to him and N felt his heart pounding. He froze on the spot.

Her hand moved slowly. Closer. And closer.

White ruffled the top of Zorua's head lovingly.

"Well? Come on guys! Just a couple more hours!" she said practically skipping away from them in the direction of Striaton.

N let out a deep breath he had been holding and glanced over at Zorua, who was still hanging off of his shoulder.

"What?" N asked his friend. Zorua was smiling at him smugly.

"Zorrr," Zorua said slyly.

"Oh be quiet," N blushed and began to walk in the direction that White had left.

"Zoruu."

"Well you don't have to gloat about it," N said sourly.

They ran to catch up with White, who teasingly called them slower than a shuckle.

"So." White began as they were walking.

"So?" N repeated, waiting for White's comment. It was amazing how relaxed he had become around White since they began their short journey to the next town together. When they met, he felt as though it was difficult for him to piece an entire sentence together in front of her, let alone walk next to her for several hours.

There were certain subjects that he would shy away from, though. They looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes. N looked away hastily and White giggled a little.

Yes, there were some things that White didn't need to know about him.

"I was a little hesitant to introduce you to Zorua, honestly," N finally spoke up.

"Oh? Why is that? You're afraid Snivy and I would be a bad influence?" White playful jabbed.

"Well…" N began. White laughed nervously.

"Oh come on! That's not it, is it? It's not like I'm a totally savage trainer that just cares about gym badges, though, I must admit, I'm really excited to challenge my first gym!" White said.

"Zorua actually originally came from a very abusive trainer," N said quietly. He looked at White to gage her reaction. Her jaw dropped.

"No way, Zorua. I'm so sorry."

Zorua didn't say anything and nuzzled closer to N.

"Zorua was abandoned by his owner after he lost one too many battles. He is not trusting of most people, but he has been my dearest friend for as long as I can remember."

"I can't even imagine a trainer that would do such a thing," White said while putting a finger to her lips pensively.

"Well, you need to believe it. It is a harsh reality that happens frequently. More often than you would expect," N said seriously. White's shoulders shuddered.

"It's a scary thought," she said.

They walked in silence for a few moments.

"Would you ever abandon one of your pokemon, White?" N asked her.

"What?"

"Would you ever abandon one of your pokemon somewhere after forcibly taking it away from its natural habitat, home, and family by capturing it, and then leave it somewhere foreign to fend for itself?"

"How could you ask me something like that?" White said raising her voice in aggravation, "Of course not. Never."

"But you're traveling with a pokedex. That means you are supposed to capture many different species of pokemon in pokeballs so that someone can study them over a computer. Is that not correct?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"So once the researcher is done recording data from the pokemon that you have captured, you would never simply release them?"

"No! I would never abandon a pokemon that I caught!" White said, now visibly angry, but N's voice stayed steady and eerily calm.

"Then I am not sure which fate is worse. Would it be the life of abandonment, or the life of staying in confinement? Living cramped up in a pokeball, floating around in some laboratory to be poked and proded by scientists. Which do you think would be worse?" N asked her coldly.

"Just…how could you say that!" White said infuriated. Her eyes blinked back tears. N and Zorua looked at her surprised.

"How could you be so insensitive?" White exclaimed. She turned and began to run off into the densely wooded area to the side.

Zorua barked at N, scolding him.

"White?" N called to her. Zorua jumped off of his shoulder and ran in the direction White stormed off to. N followed Zorua until they came to a large, gnarly tree where White was hiding. She was sitting with her forehead on her knees and her arms hugging her legs. She was crying softly.

"Go away," she sniffled.

"White…it wasn't my intention to offend you or-" N tried to say.

"Really. Go away," she said a little bit louder, "You were being a jerk."

Zorua prodded her black boots with his tiny paws, and whined. N sighed.

"I apologize. It's just…when I think about those trainers that abandon their pokemon, I can't help but get upset," N said quickly. He then stuffed his hands into his pockets with frustration.

White looked up at him angrily, her face was splotched and red from her little crying spell. N looked down at her solemnly and sighed.

"There are a lot of terrible and rotten trainers out there, White, but…I know you would not do something like that."

It was the hardest thing he had to say ever. It went against a lot of things that he had been taught. One thing was for sure: this girl was different.

"Yeah?" she said, still distrusting of his apology.

"I apologize for making you so upset."

She sniffled and looked around.

"I didn't take us too far off the path, did I?" she asked. N shook his head.

"I'm sorry I called you a jerk. I know you didn't grow up around many people your same age, but that really hurt my feelings, you know? Just be careful," White said softly. She quickly wiped her face off with her hand.

"I will. I am sorry," N said. He was a little embarrassed. It hurt his heart to see her so upset and crying. Physically, his chest was in pain from their confrontation. How on earth did she do that to him?

"Would you like for me to help you up again?" he asked her. She laughed.

"Can we wait a minute? My legs are still trembling because I was so mad."

The sting in his heart hit him again.

"I am so sorry," he said miserably.

"No, no. It's all right. Just give me a minute. You don't have to apologize so much," White said simply.

Once White regained her composure, N helped her up (nervously) and they made their way back to the path. White cheered when she saw the sign for Striaton City. The sun had set a little while ago, but she was so fired up to finally sleep inside tonight that she suggested they jog the rest of the way.

/end chapter 7/

Before anyone gets upset about N being a meanie please notice that speaks very calmly with White. He is genuinely curious about why people do these things to pokemon but White takes it as a personal attack. I imagine that is how N argues. He speaks in a low, quiet tone very quickly so that he can't be cut off. Dear Arceus he is just so cool.

Oh! Also, I just wanted to address that, no, Ghestis doesn't know that White is his puppet's temptress. I made it this way IF ONLY BECAUSE it is going to be very dramatic when N has to finally confront him about White ("You see, Daddy dearest, there's this girl-"). It's going to be…so good…I can't reveal any more…eventhoughiwantto.

As always, that you all so much for being dears and leaving such sweet words of encouragement for me!


	9. Chapter eight: Showboat

When they finally reached their destination that night, White looked around city. Everything was very neatly organized. The city itself was very uniquely structured and had one subdivision on the south end of town, where she assumed most people lived. There was a stretch of shops on the north side of town, and a pokemon center near the middle. The town also had a very prestigious trainer school, and a large botanical garden on the west side of town. The streets were paved and the buildings were lit up to invite late night guests.

"I just want to get straight to the pokemon center and go to bed!" White exclaimed. She stretched out her arms and yawned like a skitty. White turned to N and asked, "What will you do?"

"I had a group to meet up with here, so I suppose I need to give them a call," N took out his xtransciever and was in the middle of sending a text when White started laughing like a maniac.

"You had xtransciever the whole time and didn't tell me?" she continued roaring with laughter.

"Y-yes," N gave Zorua a skeptical look, "What's so funny?"

"We wouldn't of had to wander around in the forest for 3 days if you would have told me!" White shook her head, still shaking with laughter.

"I'm sorry?" N apologized.

"No, it's okay. I had so much fun getting lost with you," she said wiping happy tears from her eyes. N put his hands in his pockets nervously once he finished his message.

"I'm going to be in town for a few days, what about you?" White asked once she finally calmed down from her laughing spell.

"I probably won't linger too long. I have business elsewhere," N said a little dejected.

"Oh. Well, give me your number, and I'll give you a call sometime. Maybe I can catch up to you later on you journey."

The two exchanged numbers. White had to get N to write his down since her xtransciever was still dead.

"Great! Oh! Zorua, it was really nice to meet you," she said looking down at the little fox. He pawed at her shoes and made a few noises.

"I think he wants you to pick him up," N said, a little impressed with how his two friends had bonded so quickly. White picked up the little black fox and he snuggled into her collarbone under her chin. White hugged him close and stroked his black mane. After a few moments, he looked up at her and gave a little bark. She set him back down, and looked shyly up at N.

"So." She said slowly

"So." He responded.

White stuck out her hand for a handshake.

"Do you remember this move?" she said teasingly.

He smiled and took her hand into his, shaking it up and down like a pro. She smiled and bit her lip. She stopped their handshake short and flung her arms around his neck into a hug. He stood there completely shocked. She was so much smaller than him that she had to stand on her tiptoes to have her arms around him in the way that she did. He slowly, a little unsure of himself, returned the hug by wrapping his arms around her back. She gave him a quick squeeze and they released one another. N stuck his hands back into his pockets and avoided White's enticing stare and smile.

"Don't forget to send me a message sometime, okay?" she commanded. N glanced up and noticed the serious look on her face that said 'if you don't I'll hunt you down and outrage on you worse than a garchomp in a sandstorm.'

"I will," he responded in a daze.

"Great! I'll see ya!" she said with a nod, and she spun around and started jogging to the pokemon center. She turned around and yelled to him while still running.

"Thanks for the adventure!" she hollered over to him. He waved back to her slowly.

_N_, she thought.

He had been her first friend that she had met on the road. He was a little geeky and awkward at times, but she had a lot of fun traveling with him. She thought back to their quick hug and her lips curved into a huge grin. White _really_ hoped that she would get to see him again.

/

After a restful night at Striaton's pokemon center, White hit the streets with Snivy, who had a well-deserved rest as well. Just when they started getting hungry, she and Snivy came across a classy mansion-esque building that had a sign in front that said "Trio cafe." The building was very large and seemed to have many rooms like a palace. White could see red velvet curtains with golden tassels drawn across the tall windows in the front of the shop.

"Snivy," White exclaimed with wonder while she glazed over the menu posted outside, "This is just like one of those theme cafes in manga! You get to play games, and eat sweets, and talk to the employees, who are always dressed up really fancy."

"Sni?" Snivy scratched the scales on his head.

"I want to go! Look! They have a rose petal parfait. You would so love that!"

Snivy seemed a keen on the idea of a rose petal parfait; they walked in through the ornate amber coated wood doors and into a small waiting area with beautiful cream colored wallpaper with a golden pear design printed across it. There was a host desk, which was more like a small podium with a classic old register on it, small pink, mint, and light blue chaise lounges to sit on, and two drapes drawn showing a peek of the main café area.

White walked up to the wooden host desk and looked around. After a little while she began to drum her fingernails on the desk, hoping it would be loud enough to draw someone's attention from the main area. She noticed a golden bell with a crimson ribbon handle but she didn't dare to ring it and make too much noise in a place that looked this nice.

"Could you…ring the bell?"

"Ring bell allready! Geez!"

"Ring the bell, mademoiselle."

She heard something say beyond the drapes. Her head turned to the talking drapes, as if they read her mind.

"Hello?" White replied loudly. Talking draperies were quite curious.

"RING THE BELL!" she heard the voices say in unison.

"Okay, okay," White grumbled. She leaned her elbow on the desk and picked up the tiny bell. She rang it with little enthusiasm. Classical music began to play immediately and three men dressed in butler uniforms emerged from the room beyond the curtain. One had wispy green hair and kind green eyes. Another had spiky red hair and firey maroon eyes. The third had dark blue hair covering the side of his enticingly handsome face and light blue eyes.

"Enchante madamoiselle," the green haired man said giving her a courteous bow.

"Welcome to the Trio Café!" the red haired man said excitedly.

"We are honored to have such a lovely guest in our establishment. Table for one?" the blue haired man asked with a cocky smile.

White was speechless. She could swear that the area around them sparkled like glittering fireworks; she was even more confused when rose petals began to fall from the ceiling. What had she gotten herself into, exactly?

"Right this way," the green haired man said quietly. He looped his arm around hers, and, before she could protest, lead her though the doorway; the blue haired man held the curtain back for them to pass, and White was lead into a brilliant ballroom that has been turned into a café. There were several small tables to one side of the ballroom, and a wide, open dance area on the other. Lush draperies hung from the tall, narrow windows, and the tablecloths were an ivory color decorated with silver and gold embroidery vines and flowers. The green haired man unhooked his arm from hers, and the red haired man helped her into her plush chair. The green haired man held a menu in his hands and smiled down at a very confused White.

"Mademoiselle, now is the portion of your dining experience where you hand select your server for this afternoon."

"I'll go first!" the red head said, interjecting on the green haired man's speech.

"Chili. It's rude to interrupt," the blue haired man lightly scolded the excited one. The red head blatantly ignored the bossy blue haired man. He turned to her sharply and grinned.

"My name is Chili. I'm the best at the games. If you want to have fun, you should pick me!"

The blue haired man rolled his eyes and spoke next.

"My name is Cress. Many say I am the most entertaining to talk to. Pick me if you so wish."

The green haired man waited patiently for Cress to finish before he began his introduction.

"Cilian is my name, mademoiselle. I play several instruments and am willing to entertain you in any way possible. If you are interested in a performance, you should pick me."

White glanced between each one of them, still a little too startled by their over exaggerated mannerisms.

"So what'll it be?" Chili asked. He looked liked he was about to leap over the table in excitement.

"I…don't understand." White said with a small tilt of her head.

The three men practically fell out. Cress coughed quietly to regain his composure.

"I'll make things simple for you, my dear," he said sweetly.

"Here at the trio café, we like to give you the most pleasurable dining experience as possible. Your experience can be customized by whichever butler you so choose to wait on you hand and foot. Cillian is the quiet type. He also gets embarrassed easily and is incredibly modest," Cress said explaining his green haired friend who was looking at the floor. The way his eyes would momentarily flicker to hers reminded her of N; it made her smile.

"Chili is the wild type. He may seem mean and rash at times, but will every once and awhile show a softer side."

"As for myself," Cress said with pride, "I am the mysterious type."

Cress' eyes narrowed and his smirk widened. He looked at White like she was the most interesting thing in the world. White tilted her head to the side and squinted her eyes, still confused by his explanation. White blinked a few times and felt a small blush creeping across her face. Cress noticed his effect on immediately and kneeled down. With his gloved hand, he captured her face.

"I can be distant and aloof, but I'm also very _very_ eager to serve you, mademoiselle."

"You're a cheater, Cress," Chili fumed. Cress got up and sighed smugly. White's cheeks were still as red as a charmeleon.

"I'm just using my personality to my advantage," he said boldly. Chili stamped his feet.

"Ugh, they always pick you because you cheat like that, you cheater!"

While Cress coolly responded to Chili, who was fuming, Cillian quietly made his way over to White.

"I'm sorry. They are very combative when it comes to pleasing our guests," Cillian said apologetically.

"Oh, no. It's all right," White said nervously.

"Who would you like to serve you today?"

"Well," White looked across the café. They didn't have any guests, so she just gave a small, tight shrug, "Any of you will do, really. May I just get a glass of water? Please?"

Cillian, Cress, and Chili's eyebrows all raised in surprise.

"She wants all three of us?" Chili exclaimed.

"What a minx you are," Cress said eyeing White like she had just used attract.

"Our mademoiselle asks so much from her butlers," Cillian said worriedly.

"Hey, now! Calm down butler guys!" White said quickly. This situation was more or less like something out of a cartoon. Their banter was like that of animated characters that picked on each other and dropped pianos on one another.

White's remark got them to shut up for a moment, and they looked at one another. Chili groaned.

"Now she's pissed off. This is your fault, Cilian."

"Wh-why me?" Cilian sputtered. He practically had tears in his eyes from the accusation.

"Because you said that we always need to wait for the dumb bell to ring!"

"I assure you she's not upset about waiting long in the lobby, but by _your_ misconduct, Chili!" Cress said with a huff. White's forehead fell to the table, making the crystal wine glasses on the surface wobble.

As the three of them began to argue in their own unique way, Snivy trotted into the main area from the lobby, watching the men like they were a television show. In one tiny arm he had as many rose petals as he could fit. He hopped up on the table and put the petals down, but continued to munch on them like they were popcorn. He looked at White, who looked like she wanted to retract into a clam like a cloister.

"Snivy! Sniiiii!" Snivy said to calm the men down. They looked over to the table from their bickering to see Snivy waving over at them.

"A snivy!" they exclaimed in unison. White was beginning to believe that they all shared one brain.

One very very tiny brain.

/chapter 8 end/

Welcome to the end of the first arc and the beginning of the second! I hope that you enjoyed it! The first handshake of theirs is a little bit more relevant now, right? Sorry everything with the butlers seems to be straight out of a shojo manga and is really cheesy! haha!~ I think it's quite cute!~

Anybody else excited about Black and White 2? BUHHHH N's voice in the anime trailer and his new character art…AMAZING!~ I really hope White/Hilda/Touko makes an appearance! Fingers crossed! (please excuse my fangirl moment)

As always, thanks for the reviews!


	10. Chapter nine: Escalate

"YES! YES! YES!" Chili exclaimed. He proceeded to stand up on a chair, and put one foot on the round table. He threw his head back and began laughing manically while pumping his fists in the air wildly.

"He's losing it," Cilian sighed. Cress' eye twitched when he saw his red head companion's shoe on the neat table.

Chili stopped his laugh abruptly and pointed directly at White, who was looking at the exit of the restaurant trying to formulate an escape plan to get away from these insane men. This seemingly fancy café was more like a zoo with a bowtie.

"Hey girlie! You're the owner of this snivy, aren't you?" he roared at her. White squeaked and visibly jumped in her chair from shock at his address. Just the force of his voice seemed to blow her hair back.

"Y…yeah?" she said nervously.

Chili threw his head back and laughed again. Cilian calmly moved up to White's chair and tried his best to smile down at her kindly.

"So that means that you are the trainer who recently left Nuvema Town, correct?"

White managed to nod her head.

"And you were planning on challenging the gym here in Striaton, correct?"

White nodded again and her shoulders relaxed. Cillian had a calming aura about him that made her chill out. Cress rolled his eyes and walked up to the other side of White's chair and knelt down beside her again. He looked her up and down and let out a wistful sigh.

"I'm jealous of Chili. He got the cutest one of the three. I was challenged by that rash brute."

White tilted her head to the side and the corner of her mouth twitched into a frown.

"I don't understand…" White said pulling her hat down to cover herself bashfully.

"The trio café is also the Striation city gym!" Chili yelled, unable to contain his excitement, "Man, I was wondering when the third trainer would get here!"

He snorted as excited stream seemed to rise from his nostrils. It reminded White of a tepig.

"You're telling me that you three are the gym leaders of the Striation city gym?" White said in disbelief. She couldn't believe that these three aipoms were actually gym leaders! Cress took White's hand into his own to reassure her.

"It's true, mademoiselle. I'm the water pokemon trainer of this gym. I knew there was just something about you…water is weak to grass types, you know. It explains everything," he said with a smirk.

White felt like she was going to melt from embarrassment. Chili slammed his other foot onto the table and rudely pointed his finger now at Cress.

"Quit putting the moves on her, Cress! She chose the snivy so she's mine!" Chili spat.

Cress looked up at Chili still with a playfully smug smile painted across his face.

"Make me," Cress whispered.

This set Chili off like a firecracker. He let out a war cry louder than a loudred and jumped off the table, knocking over the (thankfully) unlit candelabra and some of the (thankfully) empty crystal goblets. Cress stood up in one fluid motion and began to roll up his sleeves. Cilian hid under the table as Chili leapt at the blue-haired menace.

White couldn't take it any more.

"Everybody STOP!" she hollered at the top of her lungs.

The three froze and looked at her wide-eyed. Before any of them could speak to continue their obnoxious banter, White cut them off.

"Cress, Cilian, Chili, sit your butts down right. Now." White demanded. She channeled her mother's best angry face, and looked at them each in the eyes sternly. The three butlers sat down at her table quickly, too shocked to disobey. They sat there for a moment in silence while White muttered something about getting a headache. Finally, she looked directly at Cress.

"Cress. I'll take a glass of water and an orange juice. Please get a straw for Snivy."

Cress raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and left to get her order. White turned to Chili.

"Chili. Snivy and I will take a salad with whatever kind of vinaigrette, and two rose petal parfaits."

Chili stood up abruptly, nearly knocking his own chair over. He gave her a short bow before leaving to fulfill her order.

"Cilian," White began.

"Yes ma'am?" Cilian straightened up, expecting some sort of order.

White slumped in her chair and relaxed.

"Please call me White," she said waving her hand dismissively. Cilian gave her a small smile.

"Nice to meet you Miss White," he said. White gave a crooked smile in response to the "miss."

"You three wear me out. So, is this the Straiaton gym or do battles happen someplace else?"

"Oh no. We like to battle on stage at our cafe," Cilian said relaxing a little bit as well.

"Well that's interesting," White said thoughtfully.

"Actually, our favorite thing to do is to have event battles, but we haven't been able to do that in a couple of years. Exhibition matches always pull in a lot of customers."

"I bet that's a lot of fun. What do you do at the events?" White asked.

Finally things were peaceful. Cress appeared with two pitchers of ice water and White's glass of orange juice. He set the orange juice near Snivy, who was still sitting on the table. Cilian and White watched while Cress proceeded to fix the table quickly and quietly, and poured each of them water into the goblets on the table. Cress passed Snivy a straw before sitting down at the table. Snivy stuck the straw into the orange juice and began to sip it down eagerly.

"We usually do a large formal dinner, or a casual luncheon or tea tasting during the day. We advertise and send formal letters to our best customers," Cilian said excitedly.

"Exhibition matches are always busy. Sometimes we even have the trainer help us wait on guests. We play a lot of games, Cilian plays music, and sometimes we battle one another. The main event at the end is always the trainer challenging the respective leader to a battle, though." Cress said quietly. He flashed White an apologetic smile, and she smiled back. Finally they weren't acting like cartoon characters, but like regular people. Chili appeared with multiple salads on a large black tray.

"Figured everybody was hungry…" he muttered and placed a colorful salad in front of everyone. He also placed two pink rose gelato parfaits in front of White and Snivy.

"Thank you, Chili. This looks really good!" White said earnestly. Chili's serious frown slowly brightened up into a cheesy grin. He sat down at the table with the group.

"Aw, it was nothing!" he said happily blushing a little.

"So, if these exhibition matches are so much fun, why haven't you had one in a really long time?" White said before taking a bite of her salad. Chili, who had not yet begun to eat, responded to her.

"You guys are talking about exhibition matches?"

They nodded politely.

"Why haven't we had them? I guess it's because all of the trainers that come through here lately just haven't been interested. No one wants to stay in Striaton for a week or two and wait for it. But, man! We always have so much fun! I wish that we could have another one…" Chili said while tapping his hand on the table impatiently. Just talking about it seemed to get him a little riled up.

"It's gotten to the point where we haven't even been asking trainers if they would like to do it. Negative answers have become the norm, so why ask? It's had a pretty harsh impact on our café, as you can tell," Cress said wistfully while swirling his glass of water in his hand absentmindedly.

"That's really unfortunate," White said sadly, "They sound like a lot of fun."

Cilian's eyes met White's and she knew what he was about to ask.

"White, would you be willing to stay in Striation for a while and participate in the event with us? We promise it's a lot of fun. You won't be disappointed."

White thought on it for a moment. What would Bianca and Cheren say? They were eager to continue to blow through the Unova region together, and White would be so far behind them if she stayed. She thought about N, too. She wanted to spend more time to get to know him better and she couldn't do that if he was miles and miles ahead of her. Plus there were living expenses that she needed to think about. There was no way that she could afford to stay in the pokemon center for a week. Trainers needed to be constantly moving around Unova and challenging each other to battles in order to win money to survive. Staying in Striaton would leave her unable to go out and battle to make money.

Then she looked at Chili, Cress, and Cilian's faces. Cilian looked so hopeful it almost made her want to cry. Chili's face was shocked at Cilian's request, but she could tell that he was waiting on bated breath for her answer. Cress was avoiding her gaze as he stared at the ornate ivory tablecloth. He looked so sad as if he had lost all hope in it ever happening again.

"Well…I can't see myself being able to do it," White said distantly.

The three men collectively sighed and looked down at their plates.

"Thought so," Cress said before taking the last bite of his salad.

"Okay. Listen. It does sound like a lot of fun. I would love to do it. Really, I would. However, I don't have anywhere to stay here other than a hotel or the pokemon center. It's going to cost me way too much money to stay in a town for a couple of weeks. I need to be traveling and making money at the same time. That's how trainers have to live," White explained.

Chili looked at Cilian with his eyebrows raised. He made a sort of shrugging motion in her direction, and Cilian's eyes lit up.

"You could stay with us!" Cilian said happily, "We have a guest bedroom here. It's very fine and has it's own bathroom and everything. We wouldn't mind your presence here."

"But the living expenses…" White tried to explain.

"If you live here, you work here! Simple as that! You can eat and stay here if you work at the café!" Chili said determinedly clenching his fist.

"A woman like White would draw a lot of attention. If we were to advertise a girl working here for a few weeks I'm sure our café would be booming again in no time. You would get to keep your tips, of course, so you would be making money at the same time," Cress said stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"It's a win win situation! We can send out invitations to the exhibition match today if we try hard enough. You can work here for, oh I don't know, a week and a half, maybe two weeks? Then we have the event and then you and I get to duke it out for your badge!" Chili said excitedly. He dug into a small pocket on the chest of his vest and pulled out a shiny pen adorned with 3 colored stones. He held it up for her to see and her jaw dropped slightly.

"This is what you want, right? The trio badge? I still have mine to give out," Chili said sticking his tongue out at White. White's pupils dilated like a purloin looking at a branch of catnip. For some reason, just looking at the little badge made her heart thunder in her chest.

"Yes. I want that badge," White said firmly. There was no asking why she wanted it, or how it had this strange effect on her. All she knew is that she wanted it. Bad.

"Too bad! I'm not going to give it to you unless we have an event match," Chili said teasingly.

"You can't do that, Chili. If a trainer challenges the gym, we have to battle them, no matter what," Cress raised his voice, threatening Chili.

White thought about it for a moment. One of her fears about staying had been dismissed by the butler gym leaders. They promised to let her stay and give her meals if she would do the event for them and work the café with them in the meantime. She would also get to keep the tip money from her tables. It sounded like a really great deal. The more and more she thought about it, the more she wanted to do it. There was the issue of falling behind on her adventure, but what was a week or two? This was her journey after all. Well, it wasn't all hers. She would have to ask her traveling partner what he thought about the whole thing.

"What do you think, Snivy? We were going to rest a few days in Striaton anyway…" White's voice traveled off. Snivy stood up from his spot next to her on the table.

"Sniiivy," he said with a small incline of his head and a smirk on his face.

"All right! We'll do it!" White said with a grin. The 3 gym leaders eyebrows shot up and their faces broke into wide smiles of excitement.

/chapter 9 end/

Sorry I took forever to put this chapter in. I've been out of town in LA for the past week. A big thank you to my reviewers for their encouragement!~


	11. Chapter ten: Surprises

"The last order is up!" White called to Cillian from the kitchen. She had just added the finishing whipped cream topping to a chocolate hazelnut parfait.

"Once I'm done with fixing and sending out these crème brulee, I'll help you run the food to the last table, too," Cress said while carefully scorching the sugar topping to 3 small custard desserts. Chili popped his head in to look at Cress and White working frantically on the line.

"Did we have to 86 the tiramisu or what?" Chili asked Cress.

"Chili. Everything is 86ed. We are closed. No more customers. If we keep taking customers, we'll never have time to set up for tomorrow," Cress grumbled. He shook his head and turned off the small flame to the kitchen torch.

"Right. Sorry," the red head muttered and he disappeared to go out onto the main dining floor. Cillian then ran into the kitchen looking a little disheveled.

"Sorry. I was cleaning up some stuff in the back. Have you finished the order? Ready for me to help you run it?"

"Yes, let me just double check since it was such a big table," White said quickly. She snatched the long ticket off of the metal rail that held the tiny receipts as they made the food. Cress stated that he would be right back and left balancing the 3 still bubbling crème brulee custards on a tray in one hand.

"One chocolate hazelnut parfait," White said pointing at the just finished dessert, "Lemon tart with lemon sorbetto, rose petal parfait, two of those, white chocolate macadamia nut shortbread and a coffee, a slice of carrot cake with vanilla gelato, and 5 earl grey teas to go with it. Yes! I got it all!" White said rejoicing at getting her large table's desserts correct. Cillian smiled at White's little victory and they exchanged a high five.

White had been working at the trio café for the past 2 weeks. The café became the newest hot spot in the southern Unova region once the exhibition dinner and match were announced and the formal invitations were sent out. Everyone wanted to come out to see the new girl that the brothers had waiting tables. White had been pretty nervous about the entire new ordeal at first but with each day she became more and more comfortable with the situation.

"Are you both ready now?" Cress asked White who was now balancing some of the desserts on a large black platter. He began to stack the teas on his platter when she nodded to him.

"Ready!" White said happily.

"Wait!" Cillian said setting down the tart and carrot cake. He shuffled over to White and smoothed down her black maid dress in the back. The day that White agreed to do the event, the 3 gym leaders locked themselves away in their craft room for a few hours to sew White's maid outfit and put together invitations. White was blown away by their resourcefulness; she didn't know the first thing about a sewing machine! The brothers agreed that they couldn't have her running around serving their guests in hot shorts and a pink hat. Her outfit now consisted of many layers…a white blouse, a black jumper skirt, a white apron at her waist, and a black headband with a bow attached to it. She blushed a little and raised an eyebrow.

"Your petticoat…it…it was…sticking out," he stammered nervously as his green eyes studied the ground. That was another thing she couldn't quite get used to, a big poofy petticoat underneath her dress.

"Oh. Got it. Thanks, Cill," White said quickly. Cress rolled his eyes at the exchange. As White walked out with her giant tray in hand she heard Cress say something quietly to Cillian behind her.

"When you've got something to say to a girl, Cillian, you just need to say it."

"R-right," Cillian whispered glumly. White shook her head and smiled. Once she got over how obnoxious each of boys were, she began to find them absolutely hilarious. White had really enjoyed the past couple of weeks especially because she got to know Cress, Chili, and Cillian very well.

White announced each of the desserts as she and the two butlers set them down in front of their respective guests. The woman who ordered the lemon tart spoke up once White, Cillian, and Cress bowed at the end of their presentation.

"Miss White, we are just dying to know what type of pokemon you chose when you began your journey! Perhaps you could give us a little hint? Rumor is that it might be a water type?" she said nodding to everyone at the table who looked at White expectantly. White was used to this question. Nearly all of her guests asked her this since what type of pokemon she started with would determine which butler she would fight for the gym badge. White tilted her head to the side and grinned apologetically.

"Now madameoiselle, you know that I cannot divulge that information," she traded glances with the butlers that helped her bring out the desserts, "I can tell you that it will be a very intense match, though."

The guests seemed to be satisfied enough with her response because some of them smiled and began to eat their sweets. White had improved exponentially in dealing with guests at the restaurant. At first she was clumsy and a bit nervous, but once she learned that patience is key, she became an excellent waitress. White, Cillian, and Cress each bowed one last time before dismissing themselves to the kitchen and washroom area. Chili had already begun to wash dishes like a maniac with the help of 3 pokemon that White had come to know from her weeks spent with the brothers.

"Hey guys!" White's eyes lit up when she saw the three monkey-like pokemon. Panpour stopped shooting high-powered water guns at the dishes, Pansear stopped helping Chili dry off dishes with his warm breath, and Pansage stopped putting the dry dishes away in the cabinet just to run up to White.

"PAN!" they chimed in unison and leapt into her arms. Pansage snuggled up in her arms and under her chin. Panpour found a spot on her shoulder and rubbed his furry face against White's soft cheek. Pansear found a spot on the top of White's head in between her black headbow and high ponytail. White giggled as each of the little pokemon tried to get her attention all at once by mindlessly gibberjabbering and snuggling her from all angles.

"All right, fellas! Back to work!" Chili said while he grabbed Pansear off of the top of White's head. He set him down by a stack of wet dishes and the little red monkey snorted a small flame from his nostrils in defiance and began to go back to work reluctantly. White set the other two down to and looked at Chili.

"Need any help in here?" she asked him.

"Nah, they are actually just finishing up," Chili said watching the bouncy little pokemon get back to work, "Want me to help you close out the cash register?"

"That's cool," White said. They made their way back past the kitchen and into the main hall where they collected the payment for the last two tables, and ushered the remaining guests outside of the building. They began to count money at the host counter in the front. When they finished, they put the divided tip money into four envelopes.

"Do you need to go and check up on the washroom? Make sure they're doing all right in there?"

"Nah, I'm sure they'll finished their job ok," Chili grinned, "They only act goofy and show off if a pretty girl is here! It's hard to get those guys to do anything around you, White."

"I know what you mean," White smirked, "It's a good thing that you brothers have Pansage, Panpour, and Pansear! You boys would never get any work done if it weren't for them!"

Chili's eyes widened and White giggled.

"Just kidding!" she said waving her hand. Chili chuckled.

They walked back into the dining room together and found Cillian and Cress already clearing off tables. The dining room was going to be transformed for the event tomorrow. They closed early this afternoon and were closed tomorrow just to set it all up. Instead of having a formal sit down dinner, the gym leaders decided to have a flat entry fee and have h'orderves and tiny desserts. They could make room for a dance floor with all of the dining tables and plush rugs that each of the tables sat on out of the way. While Cilian ran the last stack of dirty dishes to the back, White began to pack all of the candleholders, candles, and tablecloths into boxes. Cress and Chili folded up the tables and rolled up the large decorative rugs. White also moved the chairs closer to the walls so that people would have places to sit and relax during the event.

After putting away all of the furniture and other knickknacks in their storage shed behind the building, White, Cress, Chili, and Cillian marveled at the expansive ballroom. The floor underneath was a marbled alternating pattern of black and white marble tiles, which fit the theme of their party nicely.

"Pretty smart to make this whole thing chess themed. The ballroom goes with it perfectly," White said and gave Cress a nudge with her elbow. Cress cleared his throat and wore a proud smirk on his face.

"I usually come up with most of the ideas for the parties. These two just do my bidding," Cress gloated.

"Your bidding?" Chili fumed.

"Yes, yes, now go and get a broom. We desperately need to polish the floors."

Chili rolled his eyes and stomped away. It was clear from Chili's submissiveness that Cress was the one in charge of organizing.

"I'll get Pansage, Panpour, and Pansear to dust the high curtains," Cillian suggested to Cress.

"Good idea. Would you mind cleaning up the stage?" Cress responded.

"That's fine," Cillian said with a nod.

"How can I help clean?" White asked Cress as Cillian turned to leave. Cress smiled down at her, and reached into his pocket. He checked his xtransciever quickly for some reason and his smile broadened as he returned it to its place.

"Better late than never, I suppose. Actually, I have a very important thing for you to do, White," he took her hand and winked, "Come with me."

Cress ushered her back into the waiting area in the front of the café with the register and the entrance. White did not expect the surprise waiting for her in the lobby.

"White!" Bianca exclaimed the second she saw her friend.

"Oh my goodness! Bianca!" White released Cress' hand as Bianca dove into her arms. Even though Bianca was a few inches taller than White, she always ended up being the one to hold her taller friend in the hug.

"I thought you weren't even coming! When you told me that you and Cheren made it to Nacrene I figured there was no way you would travel all the way back!" White exclaimed.

"I actually came right back when you told me! I've been staying with Professor Juniper's friend on the south end of town," Bianca said happily.

White frowned.

"Why haven't you stopped by?" she said with obvious disappointment in her voice. Bianca gave her a sideways smile.

"This place has been so busy! You've been busy, too, from what I hear. I didn't want to distract you." Bianca looked at Cress, "Thank you for contacting me!"

"My pleasure," Cress said with a bow. White shrugged and smiled.

"You can keep a secret pretty well, Cress. I'm impressed."

"It was one of our little surprises for you in return for working so hard the past couple of weeks. Go out and have fun with your friend. Relax a little. You deserve it. Leave this place to us," Cress said kindly.

"One of your little surprises?" White said. She tilted her head to the side and Cress laughed lightly.

"I've said too much! Go change! We'll take care of things here!"

/

White met Bianca outside of the building minutes later now dressed in her usual travel attire.

"Oh yeah! I meant to tell you that you looked super cute in your costume dress thing!" Bianca said in her usual cheery tone. White twirled some of her curly hair between her fingers and wrinkled her nose.

"Maid uniform. Thanks. The three crazy butlers made it. So. Where in town would you like to go?" White asked changing the subject from her embarrassing outfit from earlier.

"Actually I'm running a little errand for Professor Fennel. Have you ever been to the dream yard?" Bianca asked her friend.

"Can't say that I have."

The blonde excitedly suggested that they check it out.

Bianca lead White to the less developed northeast end of town. The paved road turned into a gravel path and the trees came closer and closer to the trail. White began to get a little nervous about Bianca's navigational skills but then she reminded herself that there was no way that her friend could be any worse than her in that department. After hearing Bianca's story about how she, Oshawatt, and her new friend Lilipup had been getting along, White decided that it was finally time to tell Bianca about her own travels.

"So, Bianca. I know we didn't get to meet up other than that one night in Accumula. Sorry about that."

Bianca shook her head.

"It is totally fine. I've been so busy training Lilipup and Oshawatt anyway. Why did it take you so long? Cheren had already beaten the gym within the first hour of being here! Isn't that crazy!"

White remembered Cress discussing this with her on multiple occasions during her stay.

"I think that he upset the gym leader that he challenged," White said with a smile forming on her lips as she remembered the choice words that he called Cheren.

"Really?" Bianca said with a small gasp.

"Cress said that he stomped in like a tyranitar and demanded a battle! I think he called him a mannerless, uncouth oaf. Pretty hilarious!" White said and the two girls giggled. When their chatter about Cheren died, White decided to answer Bianca's question.

"So you wanted to know why it took me so long to get to Striaton?" White asked Bianca tentatively as they stopped for a minute to take a sip of water. Her blonde friend finished a sip on her travel canteen and handed it to White who began to take a generous gulp.

"Cheren figured you were probably out training in the wilderness but I told him that I thought you met a boy or something," Bianca said absentmindedly.

White spewed out the water she was drinking faster than a water gun from a wartortle. Bianca's eyes lit up.

"Cheren did the same thing when I suggested that, too! Wow!"

White wiped her mouth off and looked at her blonde friend wide-eyed like a deerling caught in headlights. For a complete ditz, Bianca was actually more aware of the situation than White gave her credit for.

"Yeah, actually. I met someone. The person who saved Snivy and I on the beach at route 1," White said folding her arms. The two girls began to walk again. Bianca squealed.

"Ah-hah! White! So so so is he cute?" Bianca bubbled.

"Ah…yeah," White said nervously. The two girls were very close friends but they had never really discussed boys together. It wasn't that White didn't want to, but more that it was a completely embarrassing thing to talk about. White hated being uncomfortable in any way.

"How old is he? What color are his eyes? Oh, is he taller than you?"

White gave her friend an apologetic smile. Bianca looked like an excited pachirisu so White figured she would humor her by sticking with the subject just this once.

"He's a year older than me, 18. Green eyes, they're very light and friendly. His hair is a light green color, too. And…he's taller than me. 6 feet? Maybe taller." White said recalling all of N's features. Specifically she recalled his smile and his laugh that she had to work so hard to see a glimpse of.

The girls arrived at the dreamyard during their discussion. The dreamyard was actually the ruins of an old research facility. Mother nature took residence in the abandoned and crumbling building and there were many plants growing along the ruins. Pokemon also skittered around here and there avoiding White and Bianca for the most part. White had just finished recalling how she came to travel with N and the details of their journey. Every once and awhile Bianca would giggle or squeal from the things that White would say.

"That's pretty much it. After the last trainer told us where the path was, it took a couple of hours to make it to Striaton, and we got there in one piece," White said downplaying their goodbye. She also left out the little tidbit about N making her cry and run away like a moron into the woods.

Bianca's eyes shined.

"Did you kiss him?" the blonde asked. White's cheeks turned an undeniable shade of red.

"No way, Bianca! He's just a friend! Just a friend!" White squeaked.

"I dunno, White…he took you out to lunch, gave you your hat back; it sounds like the beginning of romance!" Bianca said. White couldn't believe that her crazy friend was actually teasing her!

"Listen! He's just as much of my friend as Cheren is. Or you! I don't go around kissing you any old time we do things together, do I?"

Bianca laughed lightly.

"I've never seen you like this, White! You're so uptight!"

"You jerk. See if I ever discuss boys with you again," White said rolling her eyes. She brought her hands to her face to calm the furious shade of pink that had begun to spread across her cheeks.

/chapter 10 end/

To 86 something is a restaurant slang that means to take something off the menu temporarily if you run out of the item or a main ingredient in the item.

whew! If you couldn't already tell, this is going to be a long fic. If all goes according to my outline, Nimbasa happens around chapter 25 or so which means this fic may end up over 40 chapters long. Wow. It's hard for me to say and accept that haha!

As usual, thank you all so much for your kind words! I really appreciate the reviews!


	12. Chapter eleven: Inner Focus

The two girls stepped through a large hole in the wall to the fairly open facility. Grasses and weeds poked out between muddy and broken tiles on the floor. The whole roof was practically blown away and the walls that were standing were covered in dirt and snaking vines. There was something eerie yet soothing about the place. It was almost as if it was an ancient war ground, canvassing the power that nature had. It could still grow back after being trampled, and overcome the man-made building.

"What are we here for anyway?' White asked Bianca.

"We need to find a munna and collect some dream mist for Professor Fennel. Dream mist is a pink fluff that munnas and musharnas emit…it has the power to show dreams for real! Sometimes you can find munnas in the main area; Fennel calls it the Dream Yard because they gather there sometimes," Bianca whispered excitedly.

"What do they look like?" White whispered.

"Munnas are small and pink. They're pretty skittish, but they give nice trainers dream mist," Bianca responded quietly.

"Right…" White whispered stepping towards a more open area. They passed by some rubble and Bianca sighed.

"I wonder what my first kiss will be like," she murmured dreamily. White slapped her forehead.

"Bianca. Really." White said pleadingly.

"I hope it's super special! Like romantic, you know? I want-"

But White cut her blonde friend off by slapping her hand over her Bianca's mouth. She pushed herself and her friend against a wall and peeked out into the main area. There were two men in grey uniforms huddled around something. White had seen those uniforms before, but where? It came to her as she thought backwards through her journey. It was the group from Accumula town, Team Plasma. What could they be doing in the dream yard? White was curious, but she wasn't about to just walk up to them and ask them what they were up to. She quickly leaned over to Bianca and whispered in her ear.

"We aren't alone. Be quiet."

Bianca nodded and shakily poked her head out beyond the rotting wall along with White.

"Finally found one of these stupid balls of bubblegum," one grunt said to the other.

"Yeah it looks like something that I scraped off the bottom of my boot!" the other said with a laugh. White's eyes traveled to the ground where she saw a dirty, beat up pokemon in between the two of them. It fit the description of the pokemon that Bianca told her about earlier, tiny and pink. It opened its red eyes slightly and let out a small cry.

"Muuuunnnn…" it whimpered. White whipped her head back to the other side of the wall. She put her hand to her chest and she could feel her heart beating quickly. Bianca joined her with a scared look on her face.

"Wh-white? What are they doing to that Munna?" Bianca asked. Her voice was shaking. White heard the two men laugh again at something and decided to listen to their conversation some more.

"-dude said we can get half of the cut, right?" one of them said.

"Yeah. Once we get this last ingredient, he's going to present it to the sages. They'll probably test it out on a small town first like Iccirus or Accumula. Then we get that bonus that the higher-ups have been waving in our faces for suggesting good ideas to make people give up their pokemon."

"And it will really be able to hypnotize people into releasing their pokemon?"

"That's what the scientist dude said!"

"Well then, hey bubblegum blob, get to making the mist!"

White and Bianca began watching again. One of the men pulled their legs back and kicked dirt at the munna. The Munna squeaked.

"White!" Bianca gasped. White continued to watch, completely dumbstruck by what the men were doing. Her wide aqua eyes reflected the other man giving the munna a swift stomp directly. The pokemon cried out and tears began to slide down Bianca's face.

In that moment, White remembered N's dark words…

Well, you need to believe it. It's a harsh reality that happens frequently. More often than you would expect.

Zorua was abandoned by his owner after he lost one too many battles.

There are a lot of terrible and rotten trainers out there, White.

"White, do something!" Bianca sobbed. White was snapped back into reality as one of the men brought his boot down and began to apply pressure to the little Munna…squishing it closer to the ground.

White ran out from her hiding spot and threw the pokeball at her waist towards the men.

"Snivy! Use your vine whip and save that munna!" She cried. Snivy erupted from his pokeball with his vines already extending from his shoulders. They wrapped around the distressed munna quickly and whipped it out from underneath the Plasma member's shoe, causing him to lurch forward and curse. Snivy landed on the ground with the munna safely in its vines.

"Sni," Snivy said worriedly to White. White turned around to Bianca, who was still cowering behind the wall.

"Bianca! Come and help Munna! I'll take care of these two," White barked. Bianca came out from behind the wall, her face tear stained and shocked by White's sudden surge of courage. Snivy extended his strong vines to Bianca and plopped the wounded munna into her arms.

"Muuuu…" it said gratefully to her little savior. Snivy gave it a quick nod and then glared at the two men while he retracted his vines. He walked back to stand by his trainer and folded his little leafy arms coldly.

"Hey girlie! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" One of the men asked her sharply.

"How could you kick a defenseless pokemon like that? You're both disgusting!" White said clenching her fist.

"Listen, just give us back the pokemon and we'll let you leave peacefully, allrighty little girl?"

"Not a chance," White spat back. Snivy grit its teeth.

"If you don't give us the pokemon, we're gonna have to make you. Trust us, you don't want that, darlin'," one of the members said. He shrugged his hood off to reveal his thin, snake-like face and his dark greasy hair. His friend also shrugged his hood off to reveal a slightly lumpier face with long, un-kept curly hair. In both of their hands they held pokeballs.

"Bring it on!" White snarled. She turned to Bianca.

"Go and get one of those crazy butlers. A gym leader needs to know what is going on here."

"O-okay," Bianca nodded as she spun around and took off with Munna safely in her arms. White turned back around to see the two men send out both of their pokemon at the same time. With a pop their pokeballs revealed a patrat, and a purloin. Both were native pokemon to the area. Lucky for White, she and Snivy had battled multiple patrats and purloins during their adventure, never at the same time, however. White chewed on her bottom lip nervously.

"Ready Snivy?" she asked her little friend beside her. In the past few weeks they hadn't had too much time for training, so she was a little nervous that he might be out of shape. When White looked down at him, she was reassured. Snivy's sharp red eyes glared at the two men. What they were doing to the little munna must have lit a fire under him. She had never seen her little lizard so ready for battle.

"Wait for their move. Let's only attack when we find openings, ok? Otherwise, be defensive. We can't afford to be reckless in this battle," White muttered to Snivy. The little green pokemon leapt on to the battlefield and the brawl began.

"Use tackle, Patrat!" the curly haired man yelled.

"Scratch it up, Purloin!" the snake-like man crooned.

The little brown patrat was the first to move, though Purloin was right after it. The patrat launched itself at Snivy, who dodged to the left. Next came the purloin's attack. Its claws flew through the air as Snivy hit the ground after his first dodge. With one small foot hardly on the ground, Snivy managed to leap to the left again, but not without the scratch attack slightly grazing his side. When Snivy landed from its second jump, he flinched slightly, but looked unscathed for the most part. White's palms began to sweat. They seemed to have a pretty strong simultaneous team attack that didn't leave a lot of time for counterattacks.

"Tackle again!" The wavy haired trained said with the wave of his large hand.

"Assist, Purloin!" the snake man said with a smirk.

Purloin's tail straightened. It glanced at Patrat and it began to run in time with the little brown pokemon, who was already charging full force at Snivy. White's eyes narrowed. It looked like they were both going in for a full force tackle attack. White had to calculate quickly…they were too close to dodge, Snivy's tackle and vine whip weren't strong enough to stop them both, and leer wouldn't work unless Snivy could make eye contact. That left only one move. It was risky. A tingle shot up her spine and she clenched her fist. Yes! It could work! Charging in headfirst would be their downfall.

"Leaf tornado down the middle, Snivy!" White yelled.

Snivy obeyed and spiraled into the short space between the two charging pokemon. Like a bowling ball knocking down pins, the force of Snivy's leaf tornado blew both pokemon away into opposite directions. They each skidded to a stop in the dirt and Snivy landed. His tiny chest heaved from the over exertion to his body, but he knew that this was no time to quit. Now that the two were separated, White snapped her fingers.

"Vine whip the purloin fast, Snivy! Send it flying!" White said quickly.

"Get up you stupid pokemon! Get out of there!" the snake man said. Earlier he seemed so calm and confident, but now his little eyes were bulging out of his head.

"Sniiiii…vy!" Snivy shouted and wrapped his vines around the purloin before it even attempted to get up. The little grass lizard threw its enemy up into the air, and dashed towards the other end of the battlefield to take out the patrat.

"Tackle! Shut it down!" White commanded, and Snivy scampered even faster to gain momentum.

"Tackle it back!" the curly haired trainer hollered at his patrat. The little brown rat got to his feet and swayed slightly. It went in for the tackle against Snivy, but Snivy had already built up too much speed. He hit the patrat head on and sent it sailing again.

When the purloin landed, its eyes were unfocused. It was unable to battle for the time being. Patrat was also knocked out cold. This battle came at a price however. Snivy knelt to the ground and held himself up with his arms. His chest was heaving. White ran up to her pokemon and scooped him up into her arms. Snivy was having difficulty catching his breath. With each exhale he wheezed.

"Sni…Sni…Sni…"

White rocked him back and forth.

"Oh. I'm so sorry you had to battle two pokemon at once, buddy. I'm so sorry!"

The two team Plasma members returned their pokemon to their pokeballs and stared at White in disbelief.

"How could that little girl…beat us?" the curly haired man said completely stunned. The dark haired man nudged his shoulder.

"Look, her pokemon is about to pass out, too. Let's knock her out and toss her in the woods somewhere so that she can't bother us," he said to the lumpy man. They nodded to one another and sauntered up to White. They stopped behind her and the larger, curly haired man grabbed a heavy branch that was lying nearby. White spun around to face them, and saw the crazy look in their eyes. Suddenly, her victory seemed a little useless, and she felt frail and powerless against her attackers. Before she could open her mouth to scream and voice boomed from behind her.

"Fools! Ingrates! Failures!"

White gasped as she noticed a ghostly figure seemingly step out of a strange fog. It was the scary cloaked man that did the speech at Acuumula, only he stood towering nearly a foot taller than what White remembered. White's eyes widened and she gulped. Her face turned back to the two team Plasma members. How scared she looked was nothing compared to the look of horror that the two bullies had on their faces.

"We're sorry, my lord!" the lumpy man hollered while bowing his head.

"Forgive us, my lord!" the snake man sobbed. The towering apparation growled. White's eyes twitched as she noticed the Plasma leader in front of her ripple ever so slightly. Like a flicker, it reminded her of when Zorua dematerialized after taking her form. Now that she was aware that something was going on, White noticed a light pink fog covering the entire area. If dream mist had the power to manifest dreams in real life, maybe it had the power to create nightmares as well? White deduced that the angry cloaked man must be the plasma member's worst nightmare brought out by the blanket of dream mist that spiraled around the field. The apparition bellowed at his subjects.

"No forgiveness! Pathetic! Hooligans! Failures! Scum!"

The two men cried and ran from the dream yard screaming like a whimsicott on fire. White looked down at Snivy, who had finally caught his breath. He looked around and sniffed the air.

"Snivy, sni!" Snivy said pointing to a large piece of rubble. White blinked and, with Snivy still safely resting in her arms, she walked up to the slab of concrete that Snivy pointed at. A large pink and purple pokemon hovered out from behind the rubble and made a noise that sounded like wind chimes. From its body came tufts of pink smoke that hovered around it like cotton candy. It seemed solid, but after some time the smoke would turn into a lighter color and disintegrate only to be replaced by some more.

"Muuuuu…" it said in a low singsong tone. White's eyebrows shot up and she pulled out her pokedex to get some information on the dreamy pokemon before her. She read the description and she nodded.

"Now I understand! You're a musharna, the evolved form of munna, right?" White asked the pink pokemon that suspended itself in the air. Musharna responded by dipping its body up and down.

"You dove into their dreams and found their greatest fear, then made it materialize in the real world. That's a pretty cool illusionary trick that you have there. I'm impressed!" White told the pink pokemon. Snivy chirped a few times in agreement. Just then White heard several footsteps and some mumbling from a little bit further away.

"Hide!" White told musharna, but not before Bianca called out her name and came running up to her with help. A small woman with long black hair came jogging after Bianca. Bianca and the other girl stopped to catch their breath.

"Are…you ok…White?" Bianca managed to say between huffs.

"I'm fine," White said quickly, "I'm sorry that those two goons got away. I wasn't able to detain them, but Snivy knocked out both of their pokemon."

The little girl in the lab coat spoke up after finally catching her breath.

"Oh! Chili, Cress, and Cillian were able to catch them while they were running away. They are turning the two hooded men into the authorities as we speak. All is well!" the scientist girl said happily with her hands clasped to her chest.

"White, this is Professor Fennel!" Bianca said after finally catching her breath, too.

"Pleased to meet you, Professor," White said sticking her hand out casually and letting go of Snivy. Fennel grabbed her hand and held it with both of her own. Her eyes were sparkling.

"Oh White! I have heard so many things about you! You must be some sort of pokemon trainer prodigy like Junebug said!"

"June…bug?" White muttered. She looked at Bianca, who was smiling like a moron as usual.

"That is her nickname for Professor Juniper! Junebug!" Bianca said happily.

"You were able to save Munna, and direct Bianca to safety! Then you battled those two thugs with two against one! I'm becoming, like, your biggest fan!" Fennel gushed. White pulled her hand away from Fennel's grasp.

"Uh-huh…" White said quietly. Professor Fennel reminded her of the crazy butlers a little. Was it just chance that the mad scientist lived in the same town as the crazy butlers? Coincidence or conspiracy? Unova was proving to be a most interesting place. White shook her head as she remembered Musharna behind the rubble. She walked back to the pile, but nothing was there except for a large tuft of the cotton candy like substance. White bent down and picked it up. The pink smoke floated above her fingers and she carried it back to the other two ladies.

"Is this what we were looking for, Bianca? Dream mist?" White asked them. Fennel straightened her glasses and she stared in awe. Bianca nodded.

"That's the stuff! I've never seen so much of it in one place, though! Where did you find it?" Bianca asked White.

"I think Musharna left it for me. It must've know that it was what we came here looking for. Here you go, Professor," White said while plopping the mysterious wispy substance into the professor's palms. Fennel looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"Y-you met Musharna?! And it gave you this?!" the black haired girl said in wonder, "No wonder you were able to get so much! It came from Musharna! We haven't seen it around the dream yard in ages! I can't believe it, White! You're like…a friendly pokemon trainer prodigy!"

White rubbed her temples and Bianca laughed.

"Let's just head back to the gym," White suggested. She began to trot back to Striaton with a rambling mad scientist and a ditzy blonde in tow.

/chapter 11 end/

There was a reason for White and N's argument all along!

Sorry I haven't posted lately. Things come up, as I am sure that you all know. Thanks for the continuing support! I have also recently decided that I will be answering everyone that comments through messages. Feel free to ask me some questions : I like it when other writers respond to my comments, so I want to spread the joy! Please look forward to the next chapter. It is one of my favorites that I have worked on so far, and I will be posting it by the end of this week as an apology for my neglect.


	13. Chapter twelve: Reality

When White, Bianca, and Professor Fennel arrived at the Trio Café later in the evening, the three brothers rushed out to meet them. After a lot of arguing and fussing, they shooed Bianca and Fennel away so that they could make sure White was feeling all right. When she said she was feeling fine, the brother's exchanged worried looks and whisked her inside. They sat her down on her fluffy bed in the guest bedroom and made her spill her guts about the entire story. White faltered when she came to the portion about the men stepping on Munna. At the time, she didn't have a free second to even think about it, but the abuse hurt her heart more than she realized. Tears began to flow down her face as she recounted how they intended to squish the little pink pokemon and how she reacted.

"I'll get tissues," Cillian said and fled from the room. Chili and Cress sat down next to White on the bed and held her close as she looked at her shaking hands. Tears fell down her face like water on glass. It had been a scary and disgusting event. If White and Bianca had not been there, would Munna even be alive?

Seeing their temporary roommate crying was like a stab in the chest for the three brothers.

"Just let it out. We're here for you," Cress said reassuringly.

"No punishment is severe enough for them…for making you and Munna go through that…for making you cry," Chili said quietly. Cillian appeared with a box of tissues, and Chili and Cress let go of her so that Cillian could wipe her tears away. Cillian then took her hands into his own and helped her up. He wrapped her into a hug and squeezed her tightly before she finally returned it by draping her arms around him. Chili and Cress joined and they hugged White, who was now simply sniffling.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that, White. I'm even more sorry that we weren't there to protect you from it," Cillian said seriously. They let go of her and White sniffled a little and wiped some stray tears away from her red and splotchy face with the help of the tissues.

"You've become like a little sister to us. Or perhaps our little princess," Cress remarked and gave her a sideways smile like her just told a cheesy joke.

"Seeing you sad kills us. You haven't been a trainer too long…to experience the ugly side of this so soon must be really difficult," Chili said quietly with his fists clenched. White managed to grin.

"You three obnoxious butlers…you're all so sweet…" she said earnestly with fresh tears beginning to fill her eyes, "I feel the same way, too. Thanks for taking care of me for so long."

"It was our pleasure. Actually, I think now would be a good time to give you our thank you gift," Cress said thoughtfully. He nodded to Chili and the red-head's mood brightened considerably.

Chili walked over to the closet of the guest room and opened it. White had never dared to peek so she tilted her head to watch Chili pull out a beautiful chocolate colored jumper skirt with a crisscross print of dark and light brown alternating diamonds. Between some of the diamonds were gold printed miniature chess pieces. White gasped when she saw the bottom print of the dress. Along the bottom edge of the dress were white and dark chocolate chess pieces, with the main print being two chocolate knights side by side. The sheer amount of detail put into the print and the cut of the dress made her jaw drop. Even the brown lace on the bottom of the dress and on the jabot at the top had a crown pattern on it.

"Where did you get this…?" White mouthed in a whisper. Her eyes darted between Cillian, Cress, and Chili. They were all smiling at her sheepishly.

"This is a big thank you from us for helping us out at the café…and for agreeing to do the match!" Chili said with a big grin on his face.

"I had seen this dress in the past, and I suggested to my brothers that it would be the perfect gift. I knew even with your limited fashion sense you would be able to appreciate the fine make of it," Cress said while flipping his hair to the side. White laughed.

"Limited fashion sense? Thanks a lot, Cress."

She timidly felt the smooth fabric and marveled at the tiny details on the print.

"This is so beautiful…" she murmured

"Will you accept it? Will you wear it tomorrow?" Cillian asked her hopefully. She jerked her head up quickly.

"Of course! Thank you! Thank you all so much! I've never even seen anything this beautiful before in my life! I feel like I don't deserve it!" she cried.

"Honestly White. You must've guessed that our café wasn't doing too well until you showed up. You helped us remind Unova that we're still here!" Cress said firmly.

After marveling at the dress for several minutes, the brothers agreed that White needed to get some rest so they attempted to send her to bed. Panpour, Pansage, and Pansear managed to pop out of their pokeballs and begin to cause havock in White's room. White decided to send out Snivy so that he could join in on the fun as well, though he mostly just acted annoyed at the monkey pokemon. After getting a midnight snack with the pokemon and the boys, some impromptu waltz lessons on the shiny ballroom floor from Cillian, Chili fixing her hair into giant curly pigtails, the four laughing hysterically at it from being delirious, and some ghost stories from Cress, White finally collapsed onto her bed after saying goodnight to everyone.

Snivy curled up next to her and she closed her eyes with a big grin on her face. Tomorrow was the big day! Her mother would be coming in from Nuvema with Professor Juniper, Cheren was coming in early tomorrow from Nacrene (apparently he was having trouble overcoming the gym the next town over), Bianca and Professor Fennel would be there, and that just left one other person unaccounted for. White's eyes opened slowly and she crawled out of bed to her messenger bag. She flipped open her xtranciever and sighed at the lack of new messages. She decided to go back and view her conversation with the one person that she was waiting on a response from. White sat back down in bed and scrolled back to the top. She smiled as she began to read their texts.

(15 days ago) White: :3

(14 days ago) White: hey!

(14 days ago) N: Hello White. I was wondering…what does ":3" mean?

(14 days ago) White: its a smiley face look at it from the side silly how have u been?

(14 days ago) White: u still dont see it do u? lol

(14 days ago) N: No. I don't understand. I've been well. How are you?

(14 days ago) White: : are the eyes and the 3 is the mouth

(14 days ago) White: ive been doing really really good! striaton is a nice town sorry u couldn't spend more time here :(

(14 days ago) White: oh and :( is a frowny face see it?

(14 days ago) N: I can see it now. It is more obvious with the sad face. I apologize.

(14 days ago) White: its ok! i am happy to teach you new things even if they are dumb ;) this one is a winking face!

(13 days ago) N: I always find the things you teach me to be fascinating.

(12 days ago) White: srry for the late response! u r so sweet! ive been soooo busy here c3

(12 days ago) White: c3 is a heart! Lol

(12 days ago) White: is zorua doing ok?

(12 days ago) N: Zorua is in a decent mood today. He is acting a little stubborn at the moment. How is Snivy?

(12 days ago) White: aw zorua! so cute! c3 snivy and zorua need to meet! and snivy is doing great! he doesnt like to play with the other pokemon here though wanna see? ;)

(12 days ago) White: [image attachment] me n snivy! i am working at the café in striaton temporarily im wearing a silly outfit huh? lol! :D

(12 days ago) N: You are working in Striaton? I don't find your outfit silly. It looks nice on you. Snivy does seem very happy.

(12 days ago) White: ^/^ aw N! ur so sweet!

(11 days ago) White: actually i wanted to ask u if u were planning on coming back to striaton? i am hosting a party with the gym leaders here it is gonna be really big! invitation only! lol i wanted to invite u :3 its kinda formal what do u think? can u come?

(5 days ago) White: did u get my message about the party? :(

White smacked her forehead when she realized how seriously flirty she was being with him. Knowing N, he probably didn't recognize any of her girlish advances. White shut her xtranciever with a snap and bit the edge of it nervously. She had read their conversation dozens of times, and it made her heart beat like crazy. White knew how stupid she sounded when she messaged him and she snorted with annoyance at herself. She flipped open her xtranciver and decided to shoot him one last message before the match tomorrow. It had been 5 days since she sent her last message, so it wouldn't be nagging him too much if she sent him one more…right?

(Today) White: hey N 3 my thing at the striaton gym is tomorrow u coming? :)

White hit send and then immediately stressed out.

"Ugh! I am so dumb! It's way too late at night to be sending him messages! He is going to think I'm insane! And why did I have to put the stupid heart? What on earth am I thinking?" she lamented to the dark room. Snivy flipped on to his belly to get more comfortable while ignoring his trainer's plight. White sighed and shut her phone in frustration. Just as she began angrily cuddling into the puffy white comforter, she heard a chime and a vibrating noise coming from her xtransciever signifying a message being received. She jerked up and snatched her phone off of the nightstand next to her.

White had to clutch her chest because it felt like her heart was going to jump out the second she read it. She swore her smile could not get any bigger as it spread across her face.

(Today) N: Shouldn't you be resting? Tomorrow is a big day for you. ;)

White typed out nearly 10 different responses to his message but deleted every one. She decided to leave things at that and try to get some sleep like N suggested. White rolled over onto her side and shut her eyes. She giggled a little as she began to excitedly think about the events that were going to unfold the next day.

/

N felt all of the blood in his entire body rush to his face when he opened the picture White sent him.

It was a simple picture, really. Nothing special.

Just a picture of she and Snivy giving identical victory signs with large smiles shining on their faces with White wearing a black and white maid outfit, similar to the hosekeepers around his place. He sat up on his bed, and shut his xtransciever hastily. N stared at the black device like it was threatening him and he began to repeatedly tap his foot on the floor. N brought his hand to his chest to feel his erratically beating heart. He felt nervous and excited at the same time as he flipped open the xtranciever to stare at the picture again. Instead of being drawn to the only pokemon in the image, N found his attention on the girl. His eyes traveled up and down the clear, vivid image of White. From her bouncy brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, to her eyes, her succulent pink lips pulled across her delicate face into a beautiful smile, then to her outfit, which was modest, yet he found so provocative that it was almost difficult for him to look at. The image stopped before her knees, which was a shame because her legs were...

He could practically feel the steam being released from his ears as he was forced to shut the xtransciever again. It was too hard to look at her because she was just so…Something. He couldn't quite put it into words, but White affected him in a wonderful yet uncomfortable way. N sighed deeply, stood up, shoved his xtranciever into his pocket, and began to pace around his room.

"This is not productive. I have to stop thinking about her…" N said out loud as he walked in quick, short steps in his small, dark bedroom. He stopped and looked at his filled bookcases in the small alcove of his bedroom, which was located behind his actual room. His eyes traveled up to the ceiling. A map of the night sky had been constructed for his bedroom and each of the stars was a small light that lit the room and gave a very dark and comfortable atmosphere to his living quarters.

"Constellations. Here we go. Ursaring major. Tediursa minor. Cressaliaop-" N stopped abruptly and shook his head, "This isn't working."

He began pacing again.

"Pi. Three point one four one five nine. Two six five three five eight nine seven…after that is…nine three…two? Why is it that I cannot recall anything after that? How frustrating."

N began to tap his foot on the plush dark blue carpet again.

_I surrender._

He quickly dug his phone out of his pocket to view the picture once again. His eyes couldn't get enough of her. He began to ponder an adventageous scenrio: what if White was a housekeeper at his castle?

"What would you like for lunch today, my lord?"

"My lord, please don't forget about the assembly downstairs at 5 o'clock!"

"Welcome back, Master N!"

White was the only person on the planet he knew that didn't refer to him like he was on an untouchable pedastal. Now he was imagining her saying such things and being so sweet and innocent, yet enticing at the same time. He knew that the real White, not the nurturing and submissive White of his imagination, would never EVER do anything like that. There was no point on letting his mind wander to that daydream. Yet, why did it do so anyway?

"This is torturous nonsense…" he muttered.

"May we ask what is the nonsense that tortures you so?"

If N had been a meowth, his tail would be puffed up and his claws would be out from the shock. N quickly shut the xtranciever and put it back into his pocket. He spun around to see his two tutors stepping down into his bedroom. His eyes narrowed.

"Concordia. Anthea. I did not hear you knock," he said, trying to change the subject.

"Even if we would have knocked, you would not have heard it," Anthea said with a shrug.

"We heard you reciting pi and we concluded that something was bothering you. You stopped at only seventeen digits! Normally you can recite much more than that," Concordia said with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing is wrong," N lied.

"You don't have to lie to us," Concordia pressed. They two women could see through him as if he were a ghastly.

"Have you forgotten that we are the ones that you can trust here?" Anthea said pleadingly, "If something is the matter, tell us."

N sat down on his bed and sighed deeply. One of the main reasons things had become so troublesome was because he wasn't able to talk about White. Most emotions N found easy to bottle up, but these were new and completely different feelings. If anyone knew that he had been fraternizing with someone like White, there would be no escaping his prison cell. Well, he couldn't really say if _anyone_ knew. Concordia and Anthea had been very trustworthy and honest companions since he was young. They snuck half of the books in his personal library to him. He decided that telling them couldn't hurt anything. If anything, he could get their advice on White.

"What I am about to tell you both must not leave this room. Understood?" N said to the two women. They both exchanged serious looks, and nodded.

N proceeded to tell them about White and his past week of travels in the Unova region. He went over their time together in very great detail and even went as far as to show Anthea and Concordia their conversation and her picture.

"She seems to be desperately flirting with you during this whole conversation," Concordia said casually as she read the messages between the two of them for the second time.

"Her language is difficult to understand at times," N said to Anthea pathetically. Telling his two tutors about White had been more embarrassing than he thought it would be. His ears were still red from talking about such uncomfortable subjects.

"It's just over simplified. Don't worry about it too much as long as you get the gist of things," Anthea said with a small smile.

"You need to respond to this picture. She said that she thinks that she looks silly. That is classic for a woman to bait a complement. Tell her she is wrong and that she looks lovely," Concordia said while handing N his xtransciever back. He fumbled around with it in his hands awkwardly.

"Lovely isn't enough. Tell her she looks beautiful. Or stunning!" Anthea said excitedly.

"That's too forward, Anthea!" Concordia said quickly.

Several days passed and N managed to resist the temptation to respond to White's messages.

N shut his xtranciever one night after viewing White's latest message. He was lucky that he stayed up so late reading or else he might not have been able to see the message until the next morning. Anthea and Concordia told him not to respond to her questions about the little party, but he couldn't resist. He smiled to himself as he turned off the lamp by his bedside. The constellation lights on the ceiling twinkled in the darkness of his room and a smile spread across his face. He shut his eyes and began to happily anticipate the events that were going to unfold the next day.

/chapter 12 end/

My favorite part of this chapter is a toss up between their text messages and N's desperate attempt to ignore White's picture. Hmmm~ I don't know~ Comment and tell me…what was _your_ favorite part?! ;D

UGH IM SO SORRY IM SO LATE RELEASING THINGS. Truth? I've been having a block on some of the future chapters. I had to scrap a few because they 1- didn't serve any purpose and 2- were so forced and poorly written. This has really demotivated me, unfortunately :/ but at least the next few are good, I just need to figure out a couple of things.


	14. Chapter thirteen: Frivolous

White had been told time and time again that this event would be big, just never exactly how big.

"We still have 100 people that have yet to rsvp," Cress practically growled while he and White were sweeping the floor a week ago.

"So how many people have rspv-ed?" White said innocently. Cress blinked a few times and then burst into a fit of laughter.

"It's not rs-p-v! It is rs-v-p! Repondez s'il vous plait!" Cress continued to laugh. White turned a deep shade of crimson and grumbled while she gripped the old broom in her hands tightly. Cress mercilessly teased her the entire day over it, so she decided that she would never bring up the question to him again.

About 5 days ago, White had decided to ask Cillian about the event.

"How much food are we going to have to make for the party?" White questioned Cillian casually while she made the café's signature pepper omlette during a lunch shift. Cillian looked like he had seen a ghost for a moment.

"Please don't worry yourself about it too much, White. I'm trying my best not to worry about it, myself," Cillian said with a shudder while he took the teabags out of two cups of tea for one of his tables.

Then, there was a couple days ago. White awoke in the morning to find the brothers directing a few gurduurs hauling large boxes of food into the kitchen. White yawned and walked up to Chili, who had a clipboard in hand.

"What's going on? It's 6 in the morning," White said in a daze. She put her forehead on Chili's shoulder sleepily and he laughed at her lack of enthusiasm.

"Our shipment of food for the party came in this morning! We even needed help moving all of the stuff into our kitchen for once," Chili said excitedly.

"Mmm," White murmured. She got up from Chili's shoulder and rubbed her eyes sleepily. Chili laughed.

"Just go back to bed, White. I'll come and wake you up in an hour," Chili said while squeezing her into a hug.

The brothers would tell her that the party was going to be-

"Large. Very large."

"The biggest we've ever had."

"Enormus!"

Somehow, they did not prepare her fully for the massive amount of people that were attending. They put White in charge of taking tickets and charging the entry fee in the lobby because they assumed that it was the best way for the guests to greet her instead of their guests pulling her around in the ballroom from person to person and conversation to conversation.

It was White's worst nightmare. Over 300 obnoxious people showed up and they all wanted to chat with her about nothing while she stood trapped behind the host desk by the cash register.

Snivy sat by White's feet hidden behind the desk to make sure she was ok. White was briefly able to greet her own invited guests, but did not have much time to talk to them, as the line to get in was enormous. After White waved goodbye to a couple dressed in sparkling gold and silver outfits, she turned to greet the next guest. Two women in deep blue and emerald green dresses trotted up to her and handed her their tickets and payment. White had also been amazed by the dresses and suits that people had worn to the party that night. These women had their hair curled and twisted up like beedril hives on top of their heads with blue swellow and wingull feathers sticking out of it. The woman in the blue dress also wore giant plastic beautifly styled wings and the woman in green wore dustox styled wings on her back. White took a moment to marvel at their outfits (which really looked like a taxidermist's nightmare) and smiled.

"You both look so…lovely," White said with a small bow as she accepted their money and tickets. After two weeks of working in the café she had a certain amount of patience for the ridiculous people that it attracted. The two women giggled and flushed out their fans at the same time.

"The same to you," the woman with the dustox wings said with a nod.

"A new dress from the brand Articuno Pretty, I presume? Young people have been into their dresses for the past few years," the woman with the beautifly wings said as she fanned herself. White forced a smile.

"Yes ma'am. It was a gift," White felt a little rushed to cut the small talk as it was 6:26 already and the doors were to be shut at 6:30.

"What a generous gift!" Dustox lady exclaimed.

"Truly," Beautifly lady agreed. Before they could continue their small talk White interrupted.

"Yes! Well! Food and drinks are right inside! We hope that you enjoy the festivities!" White said quickly, motioning her hands to the inside of the ballroom. There weren't too many people left in line behind them, and White was very eager to get the party started. The two ladies didn't quite take the hint and continued to talk in front of the entrance where White was stationed.

"Do you own any Articuno Pretty dresses? You need to wear short petticoats to get the cupcake fluff look," the beautifly lady said to the dustox lady. White began to tap her feet impatiently.

"No, I do not. Wearing petticoats in Castellia would be a horror. The heat alone is reason enough to not wear them," the dustox lady said primly. White did what she ended up having to do for all of the guests: faking the start of the show.

"I think I hear the fire dancer's act beginning. I certainly hope you ladies don't miss it," White said putting on her best fake worried face. The two ladies nearly fell out and skipped through the entrance quickly.

White watched them go into the dining room and sighed. She looked at her next set of guests and was instantly a little more intrigued. A man wearing a masquerade mask and a black tailcoat with two ladies on each arm stopped a few feet in front of White. One of the women with long pink hair had a short yet puffy dress on similar to White's except solid black with white accessories. The other woman had long wavy golden blonde hair and also wore a white dress like White's but with black accessories. The pink haired woman unlinked her arm from the man's, and handed White 3 tickets and payment for entry.

"Thank you very much," White said quietly after taking the tickets. The pink haired woman's light eyes bore into White, staring at her like radiant spotlights in the dark. Her lips curved into a sweet smile and White found herself holding her breath nervously.

"Dia. Come and look at this girl," the pink haired woman said. The blonde apparently named "Dia" came up to look closely at White too. She inspected her for a moment with her strange light eyes as well, and then turned to her counterpart with a smile.

"My goodness. She is uncommonly pretty, is she not Thea?" Dia said conversationally.

"My thoughts exactly," the woman in the black dress, apparently named "Thea", agreed.

White's eyebrows shot up, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other while looking at the ground. Somehow, hearing these women compliment her felt genuine and warm. She looked at the women again. How could they call her uncommonly pretty? They both looked like absolute angels. Their outfits were beautiful, each accessorized perfectly. Their makeup was flawless, and it highlighted their creamy complexions and shining bright eyes. They even had matching opposite black and white masquerade masks that they could hold up to their faces. White felt inferior just being in their presence. She was just some girl, really. These women…

"You both look like goddesses," White said seriously, "Total goddesses. You are both lovely."

The women giggled lightly. Even their laughter was like pleasant music. They gave each other a long sly yet satisfied glance, and looked back to their escort.

"My lord. Perhaps she would like to hear your opinion?" Dia said with a smile.

"Yes. What was it you were saying about Miss White as we were walking up, again? Something about radient beauty, I believe?" Thea asked him playfully. White's eyes focused on the man with long light green hair behind them. She tilted her head to the side and then blinked a few times in disbelief. White felt a gasp catch in her throat as their escort broke eye contact with her hastily. The women linked arms around the man, who was now looking very stiff, and forcefully walked him up to White. The two women unlinked their arms from his and took two steps backwards. They were both grinning like persians at one another. The man behind the mask sighed and began to lower the object covering his face. He lowered it just enough for White to see two very exasperated green eyes. He had been exposed.

"N-!" before White could raise her voice too loud, he swiftly cupped his hand over her mouth. He looked a little frightened by her exclamation and White looked up at him equally confused.

"I-I'm sorry White. We are here in secret. I hope you can understand…" N said quietly to White.

"Mmrg Mmmrgmg!" White tried to say desperately behind his palm. Feeling her lips move against his hand made him shudder slightly. He took his hand away from her mouth and set his masquerade mask back on to properly cover the top of his face.

"I hope I was not too forward. I am sorry I had to touch you in that way," he said, obviously incredibly embarrassed by his actions.

"Ah-no. It's fine. You just surprised me, that's all," White said. She felt giddy enough to faint. N came! He actually came! She looked him up and down.

"Your outfit looks great. You wear it really well," White said sincerely, trying to break the ice. N shook his head and motioned to White.

"White you…you look," he tried to begin and White smiled bashfully.

"I look?" she repeated him, a game they seemed to play quite often.

"Truthfully, you look stunning," he said quickly. White inhaled, and looked down at her dress.

"It suits you," he said quietly. White looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Something this dressy suits _me_?" she said skeptically.

"Absolutely," N responded without skipping a beat. White bit her bottom lip and smiled.

"Thanks." She said quietly as well. Before he could say anything else, Thea and Dia tapped N on each of his shoulders.

"My lord, Miss White has many other guests to greet," The pink haired woman said. She raised her masquerade mask to her face and gave White a small curtsy.

"Ah! Right. I am sorry; if you'll excuse us," N said apologetically to White, who shook her head and told the group to enjoy themselves. The pink haired woman and N left to explore the ballroom, but the blonde stayed behind to speak with White for a moment.

"I am truly sorry that N did not respond to your special invitation. The truth is that my sister Anthea and I received separate invitations, and we decided to respond through those. I hope that you can forgive us," Dia said to White.

"Oh! That's fine, I guess," White said with a small frown. She had been told formal invitations were only sent out to personal friends of the gym leaders and some of Unova's famous citizens; who were these women and how did they know N? The blonde sensed White's confusion and responded to it.

"The truth is, Miss White, is that it would be troublesome if N was found to be here tonight. You could say that his family is somewhat influential. I'm not at liberty to tell you specifics, but just know that he took a great risk to come here."

The blonde smiled as she observed White watching N and Anthea disappear into the crowd. White turned her head quickly to look at the woman.

"Really?" she said while raising an eyebrow. N became more interesting by the minute.

"Mmm, but I don't think anything could keep him away from his new friend. You are just as charming as he described," and with that, the blonde gave White a curtsy and left her speechless.

White greeted the remaining guests in a daze. N told his two lady friends that she was charming? The idea made White smile. N's family was influential in some way? Who were those two women, anyway? N said that he had never been around girls his age before. Surely those two women couldn't be too much older than White, could they? White rolled over everything in her mind as she shut the doors to the entrance of the café. She returned Snivy to his pokeball and decided to make her way into the ballroom.

What was once the café with tables, chairs, and large ornate rugs had been turned into an open ballroom with chairs flushed to the sides and guests chatting lively in the open area. There were many small appetizers being munched down by the hungry guests. White even noticed that the boys made pettifours with small chess piece designs on them. Many people greeted White and she made sure to nod and acknowledge each one of them. Cillian managed to find White wandering amongst the crowd and pulled her to a back door that lead to a backstage area. Chili and Cress were already there.

"Are you ready for the opening?" Cress asked her seriously.

"Um…what are we opening?" White said while tilting her head to the side.

"We're going to go out there together, introduce you to everyone, tell them who you will be battling, and you just have to say a few words. Easypeasy," Chili said with a big grin. White looked from butler to butler uneasily.

"None of you told me I had to _speak_ in front of those people!" White said with her voice at a higher octave than normal. Cillian went up to a door leading to the stage in the little room and opened it to check on the crowd from behind the curtain.

"It's no different than what you've been doing at the café every day. Just thank them for coming to see you. Tell them obvious boring things people want to know," Cress said with a roll of his eyes.

"Just imagine everyone naked. Then it's funny!" Chili said while giving White a suggestive shove with his elbow. He started laughing and White paled.

"butbut…" White tried to protest but Cillian rushed back into the room.

"We're running late. We need to go out now," Cillian said nervously from the doorway. Cress flipped his hair and grinned.

"Let's get this show on the road. Fire dancers are ready on the other side. The musicians will be on 45 minutes after that. After an hour and a half of music, then we will do the battle, got it?"

"Yes." Cillian and Chili said in unison. White groaned.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she said shakily as Cress and Cillian began to prepare the lights and the curtain. Chili practically had to pick White up and drop her on the dim stage.

"You'll be ok," Chili said quietly, "I've got faith in you!"

"I'm scared," White said quickly. She gripped Chili's hand suddenly with her damp and shaking palms.

"It's not "scared" time! It's showtime!" Chili said happily as the crimson curtain began to rise, bathing the amber stage in golden light. The ballroom erupted into a mass of applause louder than any thunderstorm that Zapdos could whip up. White gulped as she looked at all of the faces. Cress stood next to her, and patted her shoulder. He leaned over and said into her ear.

"Smile! You look as unaware as a bidoof!"

White's eyebrows shot up, and she broke into a sideways smile as Cress chuckled a little on her behalf. White shook her head and looked out to the crowd. She was able to spot Bianca, Cheren, her mother, Fennel, and Juniper fairly quickly. White gave them a quick wave and Bianca bounced up and down from the attention. White's eyes swept the room for N, but her attention diverted to Cress as he began his address to the guests.

"Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the Striaton Gym!" Cress said with enthusiasm. The crowd began to applaud again, but Cress held up a hand to silence them.

"We have a challenger here at our establishment this evening. As you all are aware, each trainer that steps into our gym is immediately at a disadvantage. If White wishes to earn a badge tonight, she will need to defeat Chili, our fire type trainer!"

Again, there was a thunderous applause. Cillian, who was to the other side of Cress, spoke next.

"Before their exhibition match, please enjoy the entertainment for tonight. Food and drinks are available in the back corners, and we will have two acts on stage. The Inferno Fire Dancers of Nacrene City are here to join us tonight, as well as The Levanny String Quartet from Castelia."

Cillian looked to White and Chili. White felt like her smile was about to crack off but Chili continued where Cillian left off.

"We're going to give you a hot battle that you'll never forget," Chili turned to White and asked her, "Are you feeling up to it, White?"

White managed to keep her smiled pinned to her face. She tried to push the idea that there were a few hundred people listening to her every word.

"Yes!" she said as determinedly as she could.

Chili shook his head.

"Pft! That was weak! A challenger like this will be a cake walk for pansear and I!"

The crowed began to murmur. White's head jerked to look at Chili, who folded his arms confidently as if he was challenging her right then and there. He of all people should know that White wasn't the type to get riled up by something so simple. Was this a trick? Was he trying to get a reaction out of her to please the crowd? As White's mind was spinning like a spinda, Cress spoke up.

"To tell you the truth, my money is on White."

"What?!" Chili exclaimed. Cress had his signature smug smile on his face. He flipped his hair.

"You heard me. I think that White has this battle. Because the challenger always has the crowd on their side!" Cress said quickly. The crowd took the cue and went nuts clapping and yelling. White looked down at all of their smiling and excited faces as they hollered for her. She took a deep breath and addressed them.

"Snivy can I will win for all of you that came out tonight!" she said boldly to the crowd. She waved as the crowd went crazy again to cheer her on. The gym leaders also waved to the crowd and then ushered White off the stage and back into the side room. The curtain shut again before the first act.

"I'm sorry. If I did poorly out there. I'm sorry," White said looking from Cillian to Chili. Cress was in a side room on the other end of the stage preparing the fire dancers.

"You did well for being unprepared," Cillian said reassuringly.

White, Cress, and Chili watched the fire dancing performance from the side of the stage. Cillian stayed in the back room where the Levanny String Quartet had just gathered. After the intense finale from the Inferno Fire Dancers, Cress went out to introduce the musicians. Chili elbowed White.

"If you wanna go out there and find your friends, you're welcome to go. I bet they could give you some tips about fighting for your first gym badge," he said quietly. White agreed with Chili and made her way back to the ballroom as the symphonic music began to play. As she started to scan around the ballroom, people began to approach her faster than she anticipated.

"Hello Miss White!" one especially portly man in a purple suit said to her while she was looking around.

"How do you do," White said quickly with a short curtsy and began to walk away but a girl her age in a short sequined dress stopped her.

"Since you're fighting Chili does that mean you picked the grass type?" she asked with her red lips grinning from ear to ear.

"Um, yes. Snivy is my first pokemon," White said with a nod to the girl.

"Miss White how have you found your time at Striaton? I maintain a shop a few stores down from the Trio café-"

"Oh! Miss White is over here! Henry! Come and say hello to Miss White!"

"Are you excited about your big match?"

"Miss White!"

"It's Miss White!"

People began to spiral around her and White found it difficult to keep up with each person that attempted to address her. Just as she began to feel overwhelming anxiety from the people closing in, a man in a masquerade mask appeared before her and bowed. He held out his hand to her.

"Pardon me, but may I have this dance?"

_N_! she thought and complete relief washed over her as she put her hand into his.

/chapter 13 end/

I have seriously been listening to too much Taylor Swift just to get inspiration for this chapter and the next. I'm sure it shows! Haha! I know she is definitely an aquired taste. I'm not a big fan of country music (I know she is more "pop"), but I can't help loving her.

Do any of you like to listen to music when you write or read? What are some of your fave musicians to listen to? This entire story is actually based on an Eisley song!

Sorry my updates have been sparse; Being a grown-up is hard work, as I'm sure you all know! Yes, I am alive and still writing when I get the chance!


	15. Chapter fourteen: Savior

"Do you know anything about dancing?" N asked her quickly as he led her onto the shining marbled dance floor. Many other couples were twirling around and talking lively while Cillian and the band played beautiful melodic music.

"I was taught a little by Cillian. To do that dance everybody is doing; waltz, that is," White said bashfully.

"I assume he is the butler that has joined the musicians on stage?" N asked.

White bobbed her head up and down. Her heart was beating fast as all of her thoughts were now preoccupied by nervous tension. She wouldn't be so nervous around him if she hadn't had that conversation with Bianca a couple days ago! She could still hear her voice echoing in her mind:

_Did you __**kiss**__ him?_

White groaned inwardly.

"Perfect. He doesn't seem incapable of teaching you an elegant dance. Do you hear the basic 1-2-3 in this song?" N said quietly while guiding her left hand to his shoulder. White listened but was distracted as N placed his left hand at the curve on her side. Even through the fabric of her dress, she could feel his fingertips rest lightly at her hip.

"uh…um…" she was so taken aback by being swept away by N that she couldn't even piece together a single thought in her head. They were so close to one another, and yet it didn't seem to bother her partner very much. Which was weird. Normally physical contact with her left him awkwardly stiff, but he was oddly confident tonight. This guy…was too interesting.

"It will be fine. I can just do this," N said calmly. Being taller than White, he leaned his head to the side of hers and began counting quietly. They began to move. White concentrated on N's counting and her unsteady feet. She tried not to think about the feel of his jaw moving as he spoke quietly to her, and her erratically fluttering heart. After some simple movement White decided that she could finally speak up.

"Okay. I think…I've got it now."

N moved his head to look down at her and offered her a small smile.

"Did your teacher happen to show you how to do an under arm turn?" he asked.

"Oh! Yeah, a spin….thing. He just taught me that last night actually."

"Would you like to give it a try?"

White nodded. They managed to pull off the "spin thing" without a hitch and when White met N again, she laughed.

"I'm surprised I didn't mess it up. You seem to know what you're doing out here," White said conversationally, "Do you go to events like this a lot?"

"Perhaps," N said softly while avoiding eye contact from behind his mask. When he wanted to stray away from a subject, White noticed that he always gave her a vague answer and wouldn't look at her directly.

"It's okay, you know. The blonde you're with told me that you come from some kind of super family. I didn't ask for any details or anything," White concluded. N's eyes met hers.

"She told you that?"

"Yeah. She told me that it would be trouble if you were found out to be here. Don't worry! Your secret is safe with me," White said happily as they continued to dance.

"I appreciate it," N said quietly with a small smile still playing on his lips.

"So." White began.

"So?" he repeated. White snorted from their little joke.

"Who are those ladies, anyway? I remember you telling me that you had never really hung out with girls your age before…was that a fib to keep you out of trouble with me?" White said slyly. N smiled wider and shook his head.

"Oh, no. Concordia and Anthea are my tutors. They are not so young as you suspect."

"You must be joking. They can't be a day over…twenty five?"

"I assure you that I am completely serious. Both are in their thirties."

White's jaw dropped.

"No way! That's amazing! They both look so young!"

There was a moment of silence until White spoke up again.

"They're just your tutors?" White confirmed.

"And they have been since I was young," N said simply. White's grip on his shoulder softened as they glided together effortlessly.

"They seem really kind. I'm glad that I got to meet them," White said earnestly.

"They would be happy to hear you say that," N responded.

After another moment of silence, N spoke up this time.

"I can't help but notice a familiar face in the crowd. A certain dark haired man that you were with when we first met," N said quietly to White.

"Oh! That's my friend Cheren," White said, "Is there a blonde next to him? That's my best friend Bianca. I told you a lot about them when we were traveling together."

"Oh-yes. Let's do another under arm turn, shall we?"

White managed the steps gracefully with the exception of the last step. N brought his hand to her waist and pulled her closer to him faster than she had been anticipating. It caused a very surprised White to trip into his chest. She nearly lost her balance, but N held her close as they continued their steps.

"What was that?!" White hissed under her breath as they continued to dance.

"Oh. It must have been a mistake on my part. Forgive me," N said smirking darkly. White looked up at him with furiously red cheeks.

"You're too methodical to make a mistake," she pouted.

"Seems as if I was found out. Your friend Cheren doesn't seem too pleased. I do wonder what could be bothering him," N said quietly. White noticed that N just looked completely tickled, and she glanced around as they moved to see Cheren in the crowd. The sick look of displeasure oozed from his frowning face like a gulpin.

"I have no idea. He looks angrier than a primeape," White said.

N chuckled and White raised an eyebrow. His laughter was so rare and it made her happy just to hear it.

"Maybe you can ask him yourself. I want to introduce you to them after. Just real quick. I promise it will be painless."

N's smile fell and she watched his eyes shift to the side from behind the mask.

"It would be best if I went unnoticed by anyone but you tonight," N said quietly.

White understood that. She could respect that. However…

"You say that and yet you're dancing with the main event. Bad excuse," White said seriously.

"I will be leaving shortly after this dance."

"What!? No way! Things just got started!" White said while nearly tripping over her feet as they moved in calculated steps led by her partner.

"I am afraid so. I cannot linger here or I may catch some unwanted attention," N said sadly.

They danced a little longer in silence. White was obviously a little miffed.

"I am a Montague in a hall of Capulets," N muttered.

"Huh?" White piped up. She had been so absorbed in being upset by his earlier statement that she had forgotten to enjoy the time that they had together now.

"Romeo and Juliet," N said bitterly and sighed, "Nothing."

With that, N released her as the song built up, and gave White a bow right as it ended. White stood plainly in confusion for a moment but then also gave a small bow back when she realized that the song was over. They stood facing each other in silence as many people around them clapped at the end of the song. White let out a sigh and put a hand on her hip.

"All right, all right. I'll let you go. You owe me, though. For ducking out early and missing the main event," White said with a sideways smile. She poked his chest with an index finger and he flinched.

"I owe you?" N repeated with a tilt of his head.

"That's right. You owe me more time. Send me a message so that we can spend some more time together soon, okay?" White said nervously. She hoped that her request wouldn't offend him. N did tend to take things so literally.

"That would be fine," he responded, then added thoughtfully, "Though I cannot promise that it will be in the near future."

White rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well, unil next time, then," White said quietly as the applause died down. She timidly gave him a quick hug before more people could approach her. N was as stiff as a board. White found it funny that he went back to being uneasy around her after the dance. She shook her head and inwardly shrugged.

"You better get going if you want to escape now!" White said after she pulled away from the hug. She gave him a wink, and he turned around quickly.

After disappearing into the swarm of people that approached White, N felt a presence at his side. Two to be exact.

"How was it, my lord? Fun?" Concordia asked. The two women met him on either side to usher him to the exit. N couldn't help but smile. Fun. That was a good way to describe it.

"It was nice. Far more pleasant than any of the boring parties at the castle, anyway," he responded.

"This is due to Miss White's presence I presume?" Anthea asked N playfully.

"That…I cannot say."

The two women giggled at his vague response.

"She seemed like a sweet girl," Anthea said conversationally as they approached the door to the exit.

"Yes. She is very kind," N said as he pushed open the door with one arm, and took his annoying masquerade mask off with the other. They stood outside waiting for a bit.

"Don't forget beautiful, Anthea! She's very beautiful as well!" Concordia said as she gazed at N for his reaction.

"Yes she is," N managed to agree. Two swannas and an acheops descended from the sky and landed by N and his tutors after a few minutes passed. N rubbed the Archeops underneath its chin and thanked it wordlessly for he and his friends coming to pick them up.

"Now I must find a way to explain her to Ghestis," N sighed. The two women went from being jovial to completely serious. They exchanged worried looks with one another and Concordia spoke up.

"There will be a time for that, my lord. In the meantime, you should continue your mission around the Unova region and simply enjoy yourself. Spend as much free time with her as you possibly can," The blonde suggested as she began to pet one of the swanna lovingly.

"What little of it there is anyway," Anthea said solemnly as she studied N's face. Coming to the party tonight didn't come without a price. It took a lot of careful planning and a solid alibi for the three of them to escape the castle that night. Not to mention N had to work extra on top of everything. The women could tell that their master was exhausted.

"Thank you for allowing me to confide in you both," N said to his tutors.

"Not only do we wish for your success, my lord, but we wish for your happiness as well," Concordia said while putting her hands on her hips. At that moment, N's xtransciever began to ring. A small smile was playing across his lips as he went to answer it.

"Yes?"

"I hope you've had fun on your little field trip," an eerie voice said over the phone. N jerked his head away from the phone in surprise, and he felt his heart stop. He pulled himself out of a stupor and quickly responded with as little emotion as possible.

"Triad?"

"The very same."

N smirked and shook his head. The jig was up, and he was in deep trouble. Or so he thought.

"Since you are in Striaton tonight, why not go on a little errand for us, Lord N?"

N studied his left hand for a moment. These fingers held onto White's delicate hand just minutes ago. He clenched them unto a fist.

"What sort of errand would you have me do?"

/chapter 14 end/

sorry! I know it's been awhile! Thanks for the support while I have been proccupied. It has helped more than you know. I almost want to cry I'm so touched when I read all the reviews and faves I have been accumulaing. I can't promise chapters at certain times, but I'm doing what I can to muscle through my block.

Thanks again! Stay awesome!


	16. Chapter fifteen: Badge one

It was time. In 20 minutes White would be pitted against Chili and his pansear for the Trio badge. White tapped her feet on the floor as she waited for Cilian, who had finished his performance with the musicians, to join her with some people that she requested to see before she went out on stage. After her dance with N, White was mobbed by a bunch of people that wanted to talk to her about her upcoming battle or boogie with her across the dance floor. She was able to get away, but never found her friends and family while she was out and about.

"White! I've found them," Cilian announced as he opened the door to the side room of the stage.

"So this is like backstage at a show! This is so cool, huh, Cheren?" White heard Bianca bubble about to Cheren.

"White? Hun?" White's mother appeared behind Cilian and crashed into White for a hug. Bianca also gave White a huge bear hug and Cheren offered her a stiff nod. White grit her teeth and greeted Professor Fennel and Professor Juniper who came to cheer her on as well. After catching them up to speed, Cheren finally spoke up about her match.

"Do you have a strategy on how to beat the gym leader?" Cheren said while fiddling with his necktie. Everyone in the room went silent waiting for White's answer.

"To tell you the truth? I haven't really thought of anything," White said with a shrug while playing with the lace on her dress. Nearly everyone in the room gasped. Professor Juniper shook her head in disapproval and White's eyes narrowed. Cheren reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a small, blue ball of bubblegum.

"Take this. It helped me a lot when I went against the gym leader here," Cheren responded. He placed the object into White's hand. It was slightly firm, but very light weight.

"What is White supposed to do with that gumball, Cheren? Does it make you less nervous or something?" Bianca said while studying the orb as White rolled it around on her palm.

"It isn't bubblegum. It's a berry that can help your pokemon. Have Snivy hold it during battle. If he takes a hit, he can eat the berry and it will make him feel rejuvenated," Cheren explained.

White glanced to the side as she saw Cilian twitch in the corner of the room. He had a small frown on his face and looked like he wanted to say something.

"That is how I was able to win so easily against the water gym leader. Tepig was only able to dodge his water attacks for so long. Once he got drenched, he ate the berry and was able to get a revenge hit in after that," Cheren said while straightening his glasses.

"Is that…allowed? It kind of seems like cheating," White said while tilting her head to the side.

"Pokemon can hold one item at a time. There are many different items that naturally enhance a pokemon's abilities that they can hold such as a quick claw to allow faster movement, or an air balloon so that they can't be hit by ground type moves. Berries are perfectly legal held items," Professor Juniper interjected.

"That's so cool! Good for you, White!" Bianca said while giving her friend a pat on the back, "Nice dress by the way! It's got chess pieces on it!"

"Thanks Sherlock Horsea," White said while cracking a smile.

"I was nervous about you shacking up with these three boys but they seem nice enough," White's mother said. Cilian laughed a little at White's mother's remark.

"Mother. Are we really going to have this discussion here? In front of everybody?" White said with a sigh.

"Professor Juniper told me that they were trustworthy, though," White's mom winked at Professor Juniper while completely ignoring her pleading daughter. White could feel her discomfort growing by the second.

"Who was that person you were dancing with?" Cheren blurted out as if he just remembered. White thought her embarrassment had reached a maximum and now she had to lie.

"No one in particular. Just a guest from the cafe," White said while she shook her head.

"He was talking to you an awful lot," Cheren pointed out.

"Just an acquaintance," White squeaked. She wasn't the best liar.

"White. I need to get you on the stage. It's time," Cilian commented. White screamed her thanks to Cillian in her mind.

"I know you'll do well, White! You're a trainer prodigy! A super nice trainer prodigy!" Professor Fennel exclaimed dramatically.

"We're cheering for you, girl!" Bianca said with equal enthusiasm.

"Thanks everyone!" White said decidedly. Cheren straightened his glasses.

"Well…don't forget about the berry, okay?" he said. White nodded.

"I won't!"

White returned to the dark stage where she had been a couple hours ago with the brothers. The curtains were drawn and loud talking could be heard from the ballroom past the heavy fabric.

"Was there something you needed to tell me in there, Cil?" White said sweetly to Cilian. Cilian stopped and turned around.

"You looked awful fidgety when we started talking about the battle. You can tell me," she reassured him.

"Normally my brothers and I frown on giving our challengers any hints about how to win, but I feel as if I need to steer you in the right direction when it comes to battling Chili. From one grass pokemon trainer to another, you know," Cillian admitted.

White looked at Cillian intently in the dimly lit area. Cillian continued.

"Chili fights differently than Cress and I. Think about what his style of battle would be based on his personality. Momentum is everything in a battle against Chili. Just…remember that and you will be fine," Cilian said quietly.

"That kind of makes sense, I guess. Thank you, Cilian," White approved. They could hear footsteps coming up to the stage from the side room. Cilian leaned over and whispered one more bit of information to White.

"One last thing: don't put to much stock in that berry your friend gave you. It may work against Cress or myself, but-"

"Hey you two. We've been scouring the ballroom for you both. Ready?" Cress asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," White said, determined to hide the shaking in her voice. She had suddenly begun to get a little nervous but she had to keep telling herself it was just a battle. Just a little, simple battle.

White walked into a white square that was marked on the floor on the right side of the stage. Chili also stood in a white square on the opposite side facing White. White did a couple deep breaths and then sent out Snivy. The pokeball made a small flash on the dark stage. Snivy looked up at White happily.

"Ready, buddy?" White asked her little green lizard. He nodded lazily and smirked.

"Take this and eat it if you get hit out there, okay?" White kneeled down and handed the tiny blue berry to Snivy. He took it and observed it before nodding in agreement with White. He placed it on the tip of his tail and shook it back and forth quickly to prove to White that it could hold on to the little berry safely.

Chili had sent out Pansear previously and they were already getting psyched up for the battle. Cilian and Cress wished White good luck and then pulled back the curtains. Light poured onto the stage as well as the loud applause from the audience. White and Chili stared each other down while the adrenaline began to pump though them. There was something inspiring about being on stage that made White more determined than ever to win her first gym match.

"Challenger," Chili addressed White loudly, "State your purpose here tonight!"

"My name is White from the town of Nuvema. I've come here to challenge you, Chili of the Sriation gym, for the trio badge!" White said loudly while stamping her foot. She hoped that was dramatic enough. White had been planning to say that all night ever since her terrible performance from earlier that evening. The crowd continued to cheer and Chili smirked.

"I accept your challenge. Ohh yeah! Let's do this!"

Snivy and Pansear leap to the center of the stage, scowling at one another. White drew in a breath to signal a vine whip attack for Snivy, but she was left with no time to yell.

"Light it up! Incinerate, Pansear!" Chili shouted.

White hardly blinked before Pansear shot out a long beam of fire pointed straight at Snivy.

"Roll right!" White gasped and Snivy managed to barely dodge the fire shot. Pansear wiped its mouth with its little furry arm and grinned.

"Fury swipes!" Chili roared while pointing at his opponent. Pansear followed Chili's orders quickly and dashed up to Snivy at breakneck speed. He slashed the green lizard a few times with his tiny claws, but Snivy managed to dodge most of them. Snivy landed away from Pansear. He was already looking a little stressed.

"Snivy! Vine whip to get him to stay still!" White remembered Cillian's suggestion for keeping up the momentum in battle. Snivy's most deadly combo had proven to be a vine whip followed by throwing the opponent so she decided to go with it to gain control of the battle.

"Watch it, Pansear!" Chili shouted, but Snivy's vines were too accurate. After a hit, Snivy's vines wrapped around Pansear and squeezed him tightly. Chili yelled, with a big smile on his face.

"Perfect! Incinerate!"

White gasped when she realized that she had walked right into his trap. The flame traveled up Snivy's vines and then smoldered the grass type with crackling flame. White's eyes widened.

"Snivy! NO!" she screamed.

She collected herself quickly as she noticed Chili give one last command to finish him off. She noticed that Chili's fighting style really was just like his personality, rash, and erratic.

"Roll to put the fire out, Snivy!" White shrieked.

Snivy quickly rolled to the side of the stage while simultaneously dodging a fury swipes from Pansear. This did not stop Pansear's assault, however, and he ran to Snivy to attempt an attack on him again. White shouted the only thing she knew that would get the fire monkey to back off.

"Leaf tornado!"

A very scratched and burnt up Snivy reacted and quickly spiraled. Before Pansear could stop his assault, his little red body got caught in the tornado. The crowd gasped in awe and amazement at Snivy's tornado, which towered far above White and Chili. The small leaves that the tiny lizard released in the gale slashed across Pansear, and Chili looked reasonably shocked. Snivy finally released the fire monkey, who landed to the floor with a thud. Snivy landed, but wobbled and fell over in the process.

"Get up Snivy, come on! I know you can do it!" White encouraged him. Snivy shakily got himself up, but was heaving from exhaustion. His normally soft scales were burnt and tattered. Pansear got up, but not without wincing. Chili took the risk of having him get hit by a vine whip earlier; Also, while leaf tornado wasn't good against fire types, it was a powerful attack nonetheless that ended up costing Pansear a lot of durability. Luckily, White had something to make Snivy get back in the game.

"Snivy! Eat your berry!" White commanded him. Snivy smiled with relief and went to reach for his berry, which he had been keeping safe on the end of his tail. He froze when he found nothing there.

"Sniii!" Snivy called worriedly to White.

"D-did you lose it?" White asked frantically while scanning the stage. Chili immediately began laughing.

"One of the coolest parts about Pansear's incinerate attack is that is burns up berries that a pokemon is holding!" Chili guffawed. White clenched her fists. So that was what Cillian had warned her about. She had been such a fool…if only they had been more defensive and played it safe! Now the situation was not looking sunny for White and her beat up pokemon. Snivy was about to faint from getting hit by a fire attack and from doing a leaf tornado. She would need to think of something quickly if she wanted to win this match.

"Incinerate!" Chili called. Pansear shot out the beam of fire, but Snivy barely avoided it.

"Get in close, Snivy," White commanded. Snivy began running up to Pansear while avoiding the shots of fire. When he got close enough, White gave the order.

"Grab him with your vines, bring him up to you, and use leer!" White announced. Snivy was only a couple feet away from pansear when his singed vines grabbed him.

"Wha-wha wait!" Chili said, getting a little disheveled. Snivy pulled Pansear up to meet him face-to-face and glared at him. Pansear squirmed nervously under Snivy's gaze until he was paralyzed completely from terror at the little angry lizard.

"Now fling him up and send him crashing!" White said finally.

"Get out with incinerate, Pansear!" Chili said worriedly. He looked as if he was bouncing up and down almost. Snivy threw Pansear into the air. He came crashing down at the center of the stage. Snivy panted for breath as he glared at Pansear. Pansear struggled to get off the ground, but finally slumped down and gave up.

And with that, the crowd went nuts while White stood rooted to her spot with her eyes wide. Her pink lips spread into a smile.

The match was over. White won.

"Did you try their emergency line? And xtranscievers?" one of the police officers said to another who was working the front desk at the precinct between Striaton and Nacrene.

"I did, but they've got that thing at the cafe tonight so there is no way that we will be able to get in touch with them in time. The chief said that someone is gonna be here to collect the prisoners that the trainer girl and the leaders picked up for brutality against a pokemon. They haven't been given a court date, hell, they've hardly been in jail for a day and they're already being let free! This ain't right!" the officer said. He took off his hat and threw it on the ground in frustration.

"How deep into their pockets did we have to go in order for them to be released, I wonder?" the other officer said with a sullen look on his face, "If only the gym leaders knew…they could put a stop to this with their rank!"

"Keep trying to get a hold of them," the officer said desperately, "just keep trying."

At the end of his sentence the front glass doors of the lobby opened. In strode a man, his face obscured by a flashy mask. His dress shoes clicked across the grimy linoleum floor as he walked. He stopped in front of the desk and bowed to the two men.

"Greetings. I am here this evening at the behest of the sages of Team Plasma. I believe you know what I am here to collect," the man said politely. The officers glared at his smiling face.

"This _ain't_ right_,_" one of the officers spat angrily. The masked man put his gloved hands up in a peaceful manner.

"My good men, do not fear. In our hands these prisoners can be given a punishment far more severe than that which you can bestow. Violence against an innocent pokemon is an unforgivable act. Now, if you please, return to me what is ours."

/Chapter 15 end/

Almost uploaded this chapter with a finalized list of N and White's pokemon and their attacks (for their final battle) with this chapter! HAHAHA-ahah…hah.

Anyway, sorry if the battle was boring to some people. Since everyone was so nice and left such sweet comments, I'll give a harmless spoiler: White gets to meet up with N again during chapter 18! Look forward to it! :3

ALSO did anyone happen to see what season 2 of Pokemon Best Wishes is dishing out? It's going to have N, Ghetsis, and Colress! Yay! I haven't been this excited about the anime in a long time!


	17. Chapter sixteen: Base

White's tiny bare feet softly padded down the carpeted stairs to the house that she shared with her mother. Her feet hit the cheap laminate flooring of the hallway. For a moment, she glanced at their front, and only, door to their house. It was so dark outside, yet she still heard her mommy moving about in the kitchen. What was that sniffly noise she kept hearing? Carefully, she poked her head from the hallway into the kitchen. There sat her mother at the dinner table with her face buried in her hands and the old wireless telephone next to her. From the places on her mother's face that White could see, she was a deep red. Her mother continued to sob and whisper things to herself.

"My own, my own mother won't even help anymore…"

White heard her wail to herself in a shrill voice. Her mom began to rock herself back and forth quickly and White's aqua eyes widened.

"How am I supposed to get a job while we're way out here?"

White heard her mother say other things such as, "He just left and ruined me" and "Bottom up in the house" and "I'm only 24 years old. How did this happen to me?" While the 6 year old spying on this breakdown had no idea what any of these things meant, she did know, as her mother brought her hands away from her face to reveal her tear stained cheeks and swollen eyes, that these things were very serious.

That was the day White deduced that she was a burden to her mother.

It was about a month later that White's mother went off to do some training for a work at home job having to do with distribution of products to pokemarts. Two more families were moving out to the nearly barren Nuvema Town to be a part of the program as well. White's mom said it was all thanks to the pokemon professor that had moved to secluded town nearly a year ago.

White walked beside her mother with her overnight bag across her chest. It was filled with clothes, some snacks, and a couple toys that would last her a week.

"Are you sure you don't want mommy to carry that for you?" her mother asked. White shook her head.

"I'm fine, mom."

"We are so lucky that Professor Juniper said it was okay for you to stay with her while I'm gone! You'll have to thank her a whole bunch, allright sweetie?"

"Yes ma'am," White said as she continued to walk.

White had stopped complaining about anything to her mother. She even began to wake up before her mother and cook them breakfast in the mornings. She bathed and put herself to sleep without her mother ever having to ask her to. Even now, she would not let out a peep of her discomfort from carrying such a large bag because she was so afraid that her mommy might cry again.

White didn't want that, so she had decided to take care of herself so that her mother would not have to worry about her. If the 6 year old knew what the word "responsibility" meant, she would say that she had begun to take responsibility for herself.

White's mother left her with the strange professor and told her that she would be back in a week, next Friday, at 10am. When her mother left, White took a good look at Miss Professor Juniper. She must've been a little bit older than her mommy, but not by much. White stood staring up at the Professor and she looked down at her.

"Gosh, I don't know what to do with kids. Well, I guess you can sit around and play or whatever. Just don't touch anything," Miss Professor Juniper said. She spun around and went back to work on a machine that she had on her lab table.

White found a corner of the lab with a large bookcase and a soft cushy chair. White sat down in the chair and looked around the lab. She quietly fiddled around with her growlithe stuffed pokemon and waited patiently for time to pass. After hours of daydreaming and playing with the few toys she had brought, White's stomach began to growl. Normally she would have eaten lunch 5 or so hours ago (when did it get dark outside?), but she didn't want to bother Miss Professor, who had been typing furiously into a computer screen, making phone calls to other labs and playing with her own toys on the lab table for the past several hours. White finally decided to walk up to her and tug on her lab coat.

"Miss Professor Juniper? Sorry to bother you but I wanted to know if I could eat something," White said with much uncertainty.

"Eat? Oh, right. It is dinnertime isn't it? Wait here, I'll go and get us something from the kitchen. I think I have something in there," Professor Juniper said absentmindedly. She seemed very tired and frazzled.

White waited patiently for a few minutes. She looked around the gray lab where Professor Juniper had spent all of her time that day, and something caught her eye. White stepped onto a short stepladder to view the small machine that Professor Juniper had been fussing over all day. She heard her tell people on the phone that it was "a prototype" and her "greatest achievement." Also that it would be able to "teach pokemon attacks for battle and to use to cross terrain." White examined it carefully. It just looked like a bundle of screws, wires, and chips. How could something like this be used on a pokemon? Just as she was about to set it down she heard the voice of the Professor.

"I actually found some chicken noodle soup so I hope you-" Juniper began but a gasp caught in her throat when she noticed White with the device in her hands.

Professor Juniper began to scream. White was so frightened that her palms released the object that she had been holding. Everything happened in slow motion. White's eyes widened as she realized what she had done. Juniper dove for the device after flinging the mugs full of noodle soup from her hands. The mugs and the device crashed to the floor. Tiny bolts rolled and bounced across the floor. A shiny silver piece from one of the chips fell off, and part of the base had cracked. Juniper scurried over to the machine shouting "NO! NO! NO!" over and over again. Her frantic yet tired eyes searched the little machine for all of the damages. She whispered things that White did not understand…mathematical equations, computer parts, and programming code. Professor Juniper's face shot up to look at White. Never had the little girl seen such pure, unbrideled anger quite like this.

"I told you NOT to touch ANYTHING and NOW look at what you've done!" She hollered. White had never been yelled at before so she stood rooted to the spot studying the situation. Her hands were trembling as the professor continued to scold her. White finally decided that she was too afraid to listen any further and leapt from the stepladder where she had been standing. White began to run the second her feet found the floor. She flung the door open to the lab and made a break for her house. She could hear the professor running after her, which frightened her even more. All she could think about was where her mom put the hidden house key, and whether or not she would be able to get the door unlocked in time. White scrambled onto the welcome mat at her own house. She lifted a small flowerpot and found the hidden key. Quickly, as if her life depended on it, she shakily unlocked both locks, opened the door, and slammed it behind her. She managed to lock the bottom lock before the handle began to jiggle. White gasped from the shock and fell backwards, staring at the door in the darkness, as the person behind it knocked on it forcefully.

"White, open this door right now!" she heard Professor Juniper yell from the other side.

White panted from the run, as she watched in fear as the door handle continued to jiggle. She spun around, raced up to her room, and jumped into her bed. With the warm familiar scent of home all around her, she fell asleep underneath her sheets.

/

White shook her head as she eyed Professor Juniper in the back room after her showdown with Chili. She pretended to dust her dress off nonchalantly as Professor Juniper walked up to her.

"Bianca and your mother wanted to go and get some more dessert before the event was over. I decided to stay behind to congratulate you. Your battle was impressive," Juniper explained as she stuck out her hand to shake White's. White felt her jaw tighten and she shook the outstretched hand as if it took great effort.

"Do you happen to have your pokedex on you right now?" Professor Juniper asked her.

"No. Why?" White said quickly.

"Oh. I just wanted to check your progress, that's all. You have yet to register any pokemon into your storage on the PC, so I was wondering how many pokemon you have caught."

"I haven't caught any yet. So sorry about that," White sounded sincere, but in her mind she was being sarcastic.

Juniper shrugged and shook her head.

"It's okay. I know it's difficult to catch a wild pokemon at first. You will get the hang of it fast, though. If you'd like, I can demonstrate-"

"My mom is out in the ballroom then?" White said loudly to cut off Juniper.

"Yes, she is," Professor Juniper said quietly.

"I would really like to get out to see her," White paused and hesitantly added, "Thanks for bringing her here."

That was sincere. White promptly opened the door and went out into the ballroom.

Professor Juniper sighed and crossed her arms as the door closed.

"That girl still hasn't gotten over that one time, has she?" Juniper said with a frown.

/chapter 16 end/

I know, I know. I'm moving along so slow and this chapter is short. Just bear with me. This little piece set the story back a little, but I had to get this out of the way before I could move on. Thanks so much for sticking with me!


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